Press Trust of India
New Delhi, June 1: India has done well on fiscal and economic parameters and the GDP growth can touch 8 per cent in the current fiscal with good monsoon, global headwinds notwithstanding, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. “This year the projections for monsoon are good. We hope that the monsoon will be good. With a good monsoon, I think India will be able to reach 8 per cent growth in the current year,” said Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das.
Das said the fiscal deficit and the revenue deficit during 2015-16 were fully contained and targets were achieved. “Our fiscal and micro and macroeconomic parameters are very positive,” he said. India’s economy grew by 7.9 per cent in March quarter to consolidate its position as the fastest growing major economy, leaving behind China, with a five-year high growth rate of 7.6 per cent for 2015-16 on robust manufacturing growth. The growth was 7.2 per cent in 2014-15. Das said overall macroeconomic numbers and fiscal parameters of the country are “very very robust”.
Government was “bang on target” on the fiscal deficit front. The fiscal deficit during 2015-16 was contained at 3.9 per cent of the GDP, in line with the budget projections. Revenue deficit showed significant improvement due to increase in capital expenditure of the government. The deficit which was 3.2 per cent of GDP in 2013-14 improved to 2.9 per cent in 2014-15 and 2.5 per cent in 2015-16. The secretary said the Plan expenditure at Rs 4.71 lakh crore in 2015-16 was higher than Budget estimate of Rs 4.65 lakh crore. The capital expenditure has exceeded budget estimates for the first time in five years.
“We can say with confidence that with all the reform measures, policy initiatives, the direction which the Budget has given this year for the economic growth, especially for agriculture and rural sector, all this put together I think we are beginning to see the results. This is reflected in the overall GDP and in the fiscal numbers,” Das said.Fiscal
