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| Montek Singh Ahluwalia with Infy chairman emeritus N. R Narayana Murthy in Mumbai on Monday. (PTI) |
Mumbai, Oct. 15: Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia believes that the Indian economy will turn around in the next six months as the slowdown — witnessed in the past few quarters —has ended.
Ahluwalia expects the domestic economy to grow at around 6 per cent in the second half of the year, higher than 5.5 per cent recorded in the first quarter (April-June) as the recent reform measures announced by the Centre sparked the economic rebound.
“It is our hope that in the second half of the year, many of the measures taken by the government in the recent past to revive investor confidence will lead to a turnaround in the second half,” Ahluwalia said while addressing the second FT-YES Bank Banking Summit here today.
The GDP growth in the first quarter ended June 30 was 5.5 per cent. “The second half will be better, somewhere around 6 (per cent) is a reasonable basis to start working from. It could be a little better, it could be a little worse,” he observed.
Ahluwalia’s remarks come just a fortnight before the Reserve Bank of India conducts its second-quarter review of the monetary policy. There is pressure on the central bank to bring down its policy rate to kickstart growth.
Ahluwalia indicated that the slight improvement in August industrial output underpinned the forecasts about a turnaround in the Indian economy.
The average growth in the 12th Five-Year Plan which ends in 2017 was expected to be 8.2 per cent.
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