NEW DELHI, May 26: Indian inflation is under control after a year of record oil prices, but more strong economic growth depends on a successful annual monsoon, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters on Thursday.
Mr Chidambaram held a review of the economy’s performance to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Congress Party-led coalition government on May 22, and said the biggest achievement was to bring inflation down from levels above eight per cent to around five per cent now.
However, he said in order to meet central bank estimates of seven per cent growth for the fiscal year started April 1, the monsoon, which normally arrives off the southwest coast of the country on June 1, needed to bring plenty of rain for the farm-dependent economy.
“We have managed to contain inflation at moderate levels, interest rates are benign and the gross domestic product is expected to grow by about seven per cent this fiscal,” he told a news conference.
This would, however, “depend on good monsoon (rains) and action on the part of the government,” he said. With a good monsoon, he said farming, which accounted for a quarter of the country’s gross domestic product and employs about 60 per cent of the population, is expected to grow by three per cent.—AFP
