Deficit can trip growth, says Jalan

Former Reserve Bank of India governor Bimal Jalan today said the Indian economy could easily grow at 6-6.5 per cent annually, but the high level of fiscal deficit and infrastructure bottlenecks posed a challenge in attaining 7.5-8 per cent GDP growth.

"A growth rate of 6-6.5 per cent is there in the foreseeable future even if we go to sleep," Jalan said at a CII-organised India-Japan Symposium.

The Rajya Sabha member said despite the government's efforts to improve infrastructure, it continued to pose a problem. Procedural delays and clearance by multiple agencies were other hurdles to growth, he said. Tariffs, Jalan said, were high compared to those of some other Asian countries, but they were decreasing.

Jalan said India's growth potential was better than what it was in the past 57 years and unlike in the past, high oil prices, or a war in West Asia or poor monsoons, did not result in a crisis. "Last year we had all the three (problems), but there was no crisis," he pointed out.

"The prospects never looked brighter," Jalan said.