Indian PM's Eco. Advisory Panel projects 7.5-8 pc growth rate for coming fiscal

New Delhi, Feb 22 (PTI) The Indian prime minister's economic advisory panel today projected a 7.5 - 8.0 per cent growth rate for the next fiscal beginning April 1 and said the country can achieve a higher economic expansion if the global environment turns favourable. "We might be able to achieve 8 per cent growth on our steam .... If the world environment is favourable, we will be able to achieve high growth rate," the Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC), C Rangarajan, said. While releasing the Review of Economy for fiscal 2011-12 ending on March 31, 2012, he said that the growth rate in 2011-12 is likely to be 7.1 per cent, marginally higher than 6.9 per cent projected by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) earlier this month. Indian economy was growing at over nine per cent before the financial meltdown of 2008 pulled down the growth rate to 6.7 per cent in 2008-09. The economy recorded a growth rate of 8.4 per cent in 2010-11, which according to the CSO estimates is expected to moderate to 6.7 per cent in the current fiscal. Rangarajan further said the efforts would be needed to achieve and sustain a high growth rate. Referring to inflation, which has remained at an elevated level in 2011, he said it would moderate to 6.5 per cent by March end and to 5-6 per cent in the next fiscal. While India's retail inflation based on consumer price index was 7.65 per cent in January, the wholesale price index based inflation was 6.55 per cent. PTI