India Sets Target of 9% Economic Growth for Five Years to 2017, Singh Says
By Unni Krishnan - Aug 20, 2011
India aims to accelerate the pace of economic growth to 9 percent in the five years starting April 2012 to help cut poverty, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.
The government had asked the Planning Commission to consider a goal of as high as 9.5 percent, Singh said in New Delhi in an address to cabinet colleagues and members of the Soviet-style government organization that sets five-year investment targets. The plan body set the target, he said in comments sent by e-mail by his office.
“The commission has pointed out that given the uncertainties in the global economy, and the challenges in the domestic economy, even a 9 percent target is feasible only if we can take some difficult decisions,” Singh said.
The Reserve Bank of India says a pace of growth that’s quicker than 8 percent can fan inflation, underscoring the dilemma policy makers face in raising living standards in Asia’s third-biggest economy, where the World Bank estimates 76 percent of the 1.2 billion people live on less than $2 a day. India’s economy has expanded at an average 8.6 percent since 2006, versus China’s 9.8 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Singh said the government is aiming for a 4 percent growth in agriculture in the five years as inflationary pressures“could arise if high levels of growth are attempted” without increasing domestic production. The central bank has called for higher investment in farming and factories to increase supplies.
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