Rejecting arguments of ‘policy paralysis’, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said the economy is more stable than what it was two years ago following several steps taken by the Government and that growth will be higher in the second half of the fiscal.
“Thanks to the numerous measures, I was confident that the decline will be arrested and growth cycles will turn in the second quarter. I believe, I have been vindicated...second quarter at 4.8 per cent and growth for whole year has been estimated at 4.9 per cent.
“This means that growth in Q3 and Q4 of 2013-14 will be at least 5.2 per cent,” he said in the
He said the UPA Government’s record on economic growth front is “unparalleled”.
“Madam Speaker, I reject the argument of policy paralysis. Just as there are business cycles, there is a cycle around the trend growth rate of an economy.
“I can confidently assert that the economy is more stable today than what it was two years ago,” Chidambaram said.
India’s economic growth slowed to a decade low of 4.5 per cent in 2012-13 due to global as well as domestic factors, including a high interest rate.
The Government took several steps, including setting up a Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to fast-track big ticket projects.
While industrial growth contracted for three consecutive months through December, good monsoon rains in 2013 were good news for the agricultural sector, which has about 15 per cent share in GDP.