Indian economy to expand by 7%: Virmani

Definitely,we are sticking to that forecast,” Virmani told reporters here on the sidelines of the release of his book ‘The Sudoku of India’s Growth’.

He said the clear picture of the impact of monsoon on farm production would be known by December only.

Expressing concern over inflation,he said,”point-to-point WPI is expected to be around 6 per cent by March-end…certainly the fact that inflation is relatively high in Consumer Price Index-Industrial Workers is a matter of concern. There is no doubt about it.”

Having recorded about 9 per cent growth rate in three consecutive years,the GDP growth rate fell to 6.7 per cent during 2008-09 on account of the impact of the global financial crisis. India recorded a growth rate of 6.1 per cent during the first quarter ended June 30 this fiscal.

Among the major organisations,the Reserve Bank projected a growth rate of 6 per cent with upward bias for the current fiscal. The Planning Commission,however,expects the economy to expand by 6.3 per cent.

Expressing concern over rise in retail prices,he hoped that the wholesale price inflation would reach around 6 per cent by March-end.

While wholesale price inflation has touched 0.37 per cent by the second week of September,CPI-IW inflation is in double digits.

When asked if time is ripe for the RBI to start tightening money supply,he said it is for the central bank to take a call on.

However,the official position expressed at the recent G-20 meeting is that “we want to be sure about strong recovery to give way to that portion of the policy (to exit from monetary and fiscal stimulus)”.