The Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, has admitted that the Euro zone crisis is now hurting the economy. However, he hoped that the economy will soon revert back to a higher growth trajectory.
Addressing the Consultative Committee attached to the Ministry of Finance, the Finance Minister said, “Euro zone crisis, downturn in external demand resulting in slowdown in exports, currency volatility and current account deficit among others have also affected our economy.” However, he assured that the present downturn was only temporary.
He said that the food inflation had come down to 1.8 per cent and that there was moderation in inflation, in general. The Finance Minister said that the savings rate had also gone up. He said that necessary instructions had been issued to all the Ministries and departments to adhere to their expenditure ceilings.