IMF team assesses fiscal situation

A high-level delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today met finance ministry officials to get a first hand view of the rosy fiscal projections made by Finance Minister Jaswant Singh in the interim Budget.

Officials said the IMF wanted to gain a perspective on the economic growth in India as inputs for its World Economic Outlook Report 2004, adding that the team also quizzed finance ministry officials about the fiscal numbers.

"They were impressed with the reining in of the fiscal deficit and the breaching of the disinvestment target," an official said.

Officials said with a good monsoon, India was expected to top the 8 per cent annual growth target set by the Planning Commission for the current fiscal.

They said efforts would be taken to sustain the momentum through the Tenth Plan period.

IMF officials usually visit India around this time of the year for consultations with the government after the Budget is presented.

While the mandate of the IMF team was to assess the growth prospects of the economy, discussions also focused on issues like the gross fiscal deficit of the Centre and states, the revenue mobilisation efforts and the bullish disinvestment scenario.

The IMF mission will be in India for another couple of days and meet bankers and institution heads.

The World Economic Outlook Report presents the IMF's analysis and projections of economic developments at the global level in major country groups and in many individual countries.

It focuses on major economic policy issues as well as on the analysis of economic developments and prospects.

The report is usually prepared twice a year as documentation for meetings of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, and forms the main instrument of the IMF's global fiscal surveillance activities.