Sustainable growth

Govt needs a realistic economic assessment

The projected higher gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in the current and next fiscal years seems to have enthused ministers and government economists to predict higher sustained growth over the medium term. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the Indian economy to grow at 9.5 per cent in the current year and 8.5 per cent in the next year. While the projections are in line with what most economists expect, they should not be seen as a trend for the medium term. The higher growth rate in the current fiscal year would largely be a result of the lower