PM's advisory council sees 7% GDP growth

NEW DELHI: Sharing the optimism of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his advisory council on Thursday projected a growth rate of 7% for the current fiscal. ���I think, it should be around 7%,��� Prime Minister���s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) chairman Suresh Tendulkar told reporters on the sidelines of a function.

Although, the Reserve Bank of India in its annual monetary policy in April forecast a growth rate of around 6% for the current fiscal, Prime Minister felt otherwise, saying the growth rate would be at least 7%.

���We will maintain at least 7% growth rate. In the short-run, we can���t do better (because of the global economic crisis), but this is not good enough,��� Mr Singh said in Parliament, adding that with efforts, the country can revert to 8-9% economic growth. The economic growth during 2008-09 dipped to 6.7% from 9% a year ago, due to the impact of the global financial meltdown.