The Planning Commission expects the economic growth rate to marginally move up to 7 per cent in the current fiscal despite the monsoon casting its shadow on agricultural output.
"I think (economic growth during 2009-10)... Between 6.5 and 7 per cent will be quite a good outcome," Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahuwalia told reporters today.
Noting that the recent pick-up in the industrial sector will have positive implications for growth in the current fiscal, he said, "On the agriculture side, the news is less good than what we hoped."
Replying to questions on the impact of the bad monsoon on farm sector growth, Ahluwalia said, "There is still deficiency in different parts of the country. It is too early to tell its effect on the country as a whole... But of course individual states can have problems."
Noting that growth projections of various think tanks vary between 6.7 and 7 per cent, while some indicating more than 7 per cent economic expansion, he said that this would not be bad under current circumstances.
Having grown by over 9 per cent in three consecutive years, economic growth slipped to 6.7 per cent during 2008-09, mainly on account of the impact of the global financial crisis on the country.
