Date:03/07/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/07/03/stories/2009070360751000.htm

National

With luck, GDP may grow beyond 7%, says Pranab

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Even as the Economic Survey projected varying growth rate scenarios, depending on the timing of the global financial crisis bottoming out, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee expressed cautious optimism about surpassing the Gross Domestic Product growth target of seven per cent in 2009-10, albeit with a bit of luck.

Asked whether the target could be surpassed, especially since rainfall has been deficient so far, Mr. Mukherjee hoped that the monsoon would be normal and the GDP growth could be more than seven per cent.

“I do hope there will be recovery, and it will be possible to achieve the target. It may be, if luck favours, we will surpass [the GDP target],” he told journalists here.

The survey noted that the economy could expand by seven per cent (plus/minus 0.75 percentage point), if the monsoon was normal.

On the likelihood of the monsoon turning out to be below normal, Mr. Mukherjee said:

“It’s not correct that the monsoon has not come. The monsoon would be normal; we are expecting [it to be] so, and the meteorological forecast is also there.”