Outgoing finance minister and newly appointed home minister P Chidambaram expressed confidence that the Indian economy would register a satisfactory growth this year, even though there may be a temporary slowdown.

“We will have a reasonable growth rate... inflation will moderate and growth rate would be very satisfactory,” he told reporters as he wound up work in the Finance Ministry before moving to the other part of North Block as Home Minister.

“In the case of India it will only amount to a slowdown and not recession,” he said, expressing confidence that the economy would notch 7-8 per cent growth rate in the current fiscal. Chidambaram was appointed home minister yesterday with the finance portfolio moving under the care of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“The Prime Minister can handle this finance portfolio far better than anyone else and I am confident that the people of this country, when they look back at the five years of UPA rule, will applaud its economic performance under the guidance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,” he said. The minister further stated that with PM taking direct charge close coordination between the finance ministry and RBI would ensue.

One of the key issues that Chidambaram has been tacking over the past few months is inflation, which has now started showing signs of waning. “There is unfinished work in this ministry, too, especially in this difficult year,” he said. However, as a member of the Cabinet, he would continue to be deeply engaged in matters that are placed before it.

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