Finance Minister P Chidambaram promises more reforms in coming months

NEW DELHI: Asserting that the government will last its full five year term, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said people should expect more reforms in the second half of the year.

"We expect more reforms and investment in next half of the year. Government will last its full term," he said.

The general elections are due before May 2014. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the performance report release function on the fourth anniversary of UPA-II, Chidambaram said: " Inflation is falling and investment is increasing."

The overall inflation in April declined to over 3-year low of 4.89 per cent.

Since taking over as the Finance Minister in August last year, Chidambaram has initiated a host of reforms such as liberalising foreign investment norms in sectors like retail and aviation, besides partially decontrolling diesel prices, which would help government reduce subsidy.

Besides, the Centre has taken steps to streamline investments in projects and set up a Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI), headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to accord fast-track clearances to large projects.

The CCI has cleared projects worth over USD 27 billion in the past four months.

Faced with the impact of global financial crisis, India's economic growth fell to a decade low of 5 per cent in 2012-13. The GDP is projected to expand in the range of 6.1-6.7 per cent in the current fiscal.