‘Meltdown to be felt next fiscal too’

NEW DELHI: Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Friday said the impact of the global meltdown will be felt in the next fiscal also and it would not be possible to achieve the average growth target of 9% in the eleventh five year plan.

���The global slowdown is not still over. This slowdown, which has affected 2008-09 and is affecting 2009-10, will also affect 2010-11���, Mr Ahluwalia said. The global financial meltdown has pulled down India���s economic growth to 6.7% during 2008-09 from about 9% a year ago. During the current fiscal, as per the Planning Panel estimates, growth rate may fall to 6.3%.

In another development, Mr Ahluwalia said it will soon set up an independent evaluation office (IEO) to assess the extent to which the government's flagship schemes are benefiting the poor. "We are working towards the establishment of an IEO for strengthening our evaluation system, for which the details would come out next month", Mr Ahluwalia said.