Economic growth may beat 7.2 per cent this fiscal: FM

New Delhi, Feb 10 (PTI) Finance Minister of India Pranab
Mukherjee on Wednesday exuded the confidence that the economy
could grow at a pace higher than the 7.2 per cent projected by
the government for this fiscal.
A day after the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO)
came out with the growth projection for 2009-10 fiscal, he
said economic expansion could be in the upper band of various
estimates.
"The Economic Survey 2008-09 had indicated that the upper
band of growth in real GDP for the year 2009-10 could be
around 7.75 per cent... The growth outlook for the next two
quarters and for the whole year is expected to be in the upper
range of most predictions for the Indian economy," he said at
a meeting on the Colombo Plan - a grouping of nations for
economic and social improvement in south and southeast Asia.
Even 7.2 per cent growth is not discouraging in the
context of subdued economic environment globally, he told
reporters later on the sidelines.
"When the final figures come, particularly for the third
quarter, I think there may be improvement (over Central
Statistical Organisation's estimate of 7.2 per cent). Anyway,
7.2 per cent in the current situation is not bad," he said.
Referring to advance estimates of CSO last fiscal,
Mukherjee said it had estimated 6.5 per cent growth for 2008-
09, but ultimately it turned out to be 6.7 per cent. PTI