GDP likely to grow this fiscal at 7.6 pc: FM

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SME Times News Bureau | 01 Apr, 2016
Estimating that India's GDP growth rate for the current fiscal would touch 7.6 percent, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday hoped for a better rate next year, saying it is much less than the country's potential.

"As the current financial year ends today, we hope to finish this year at 7.6 percent growth rate which is much less than our potential. We are hopeful that we will do better than this next year," Jaitley said while delivering the K.R.Narayanan Oration series lecture here.

"Our current account deficit is well under control, inflation rate is under control. In last 16 months, the wholesale price index has been negative. Consumer index has been in the range of 4-5 percent. Interest rates are slowly coming down," he said.

"We had to reform our systems. There is a considerable amount of ease which has come in and we have moved up in global rankings," he added.

Declaring that India's earlier "fairly aggressive tax system" had been rationalised, Jaitley said implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) could further add India's to growth story.

Earlier on Thursday, Jaitley met Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull here and apprised him of the immense scope for increasing economic ties between the two countries.

According to an Indian official source here, Jaitley extended an invitation to Turnbull to visit India.

Turnbull expressed his interest in cooperating with India in renewable energy, a sector where Australia has developed considerable expertise.

Jaitley arrived in the Australian capital on Thursday after a two-day visit to Sydney where he inaugurated a 'Make in India' conference.