Chennai: The country's economy will continue to grow at 5-6 per cent "regardless" of what government does or doesn't do, but with effective governance it can rise to over 8 per cent, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Monday. The country should focus on ensuring the conditions for economic growth remain "intact", he added.
"We will grow at a rate of 5 or 6 per cent regardless of what government does and what government does not do. What government and good governance can bring to the table, is more effective governance that raises the growth rate from six per cent to above eight per cent or so", he said. Chidambaram was speaking at the first edition of Excellence in Financial Journalism awards, organised by city-based Shriram Group, in Chennai on Monday night. "India will continue to grow. What we should focus on, is ensuring that the conditions for growth remain intact and that governance becomes more and more effective, more and more responsible and more and more efficient", he said.
The Finance Minister said steps like efficient use of money and design of projects can propel the growth rate to 9 per cent. "If we can use money efficiently, if we can use time efficiently, if we can conceive and design products and projects more efficiently surely our growth rate can cross eight or nine per cent," he said. "Irrespective of government, irrespective of Ministers, irrespective of me, India's economy will grow. Difference we can make is to ensure that the growth is not modest at five or six per cent, but the growth is at a brisk rate of 8 or 9 per cent," he said.
India's GDP growth is estimated to have plunged to a decade low of 5 per cent in 2012-13. Before financial meltdown in 2008, it was growing at over 8 per cent. Chidambaram said developments in global economies should not affect Indian (stock) markets and instead the focus should be on the performance of domestic companies.
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