Economy to grow 7.5%: Rangarajan

Economy to grow 7.5%: Rangarajan
The Times of India, December 30, 2009, Page 21

Hyderabad: Indian economy will grow between 7% and 7.5% during the current financial year despite poor performance of the agriculture sector on account of drought and floods, said PMEAC chairman C Rangarajan.

“The economy will grow between 7% and 7.5% overall but agricultural growth may fall by 1% to 2%,” Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) chief said. Flagging food inflation as a major concern, he said, “agricultural growth rate should not fall below 4% for food security as 60% of the population are in rural areas.” Although the economy did well during second quarter recording a growth of 7.9%, the output of agriculture and allied sector slipped to below 1%.

Referring to the impact of the widespread drought and devastating floods on the farm sector, Rangarajan said., rice output might decline by 13 million tonnes. However, he hoped, the rabi crop) would to some extent make up for shortfall in kharif crop). PTI