Indian Economy Likely To Grow At 7.5 Per Cent, Says Finance Secretary As per reports, RBI has projected a growth rate of 7.2 per cent for the current financial year
By Teena Jose •
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Finance Secretary T V Somanathan, on Wednesday, said that the government is expecting the economy to grow at 7 to 7.5 per cent in 2022-23, in line with its projections made at the beginning of this financial year. India, reportedly, registered a growth of 8.7 per cent in 2021-22.
"We remain on course to meet the 7.4 per cent. We expect to achieve. This does not really reflect on what is expected to be annual real GDP growth. So 7 to 7.5 per cent in that range, 7.4 per cent is what the IMF has predicted," said Somanathan, in a statement.
While speaking after the release of the GDP numbers, which showed the economy, grew by 13.5 per cent in the April-June quarter, much below the RBI's projection of 16.2 per cent, Somanathan said that, "I am not going to make a prediction more accurate than RBI. But I am saying that today's figure in no way is throwing us off course or what was expected and what we continue to expect. It is fully consistent with that expectation of somewhere in the region of 7.7 per cent in real GDP growth. It is fully consistent with that."
As per reports, RBI has projected a growth rate of 7.2 per cent for the current financial year.
Commenting on the latest GDP data, economic affairs secretary, Ajay Seth, in a news report was quoted as saying, "Contact intensive services and construction witnessed an annual growth of 25.7 per cent and 16.8 per cent respectively, in the first quarter of 2022-23. The government has continued to support the investment activity with capital expenditure reach INR 1.75 lakh crore during the first quarter of 2022-23, which is 23.4 per cent of the budget estimate and 57 per cent higher as compared to the corresponding period of the last year. Fixed capital formation and private consumption are very strong in the first quarter and that augurs well for the economy."
Adding on to this, Somanathan said that, "The rising interest rate may not deter capital investment by the private sector. India's private sector is not very interest rate sensitive. Adding 75 to 100 basis points may not deter private investment."
