The Indian economy is likely to grow in the same range as last year, believes Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla. In an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18, Chawla spoke on various issues that were on the government’s mind including returning to high growth, combating inflation, impact of the drought, borrowing and the goods and services tax (GST).
“The biggest worry is getting back to high growth,” Chawla said. He, however, added that a possible build-up of inflation was the government’s ‘number two’ priority even though the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had not yet decided on an exit route from the monetary policy.
The fear of the drought had been somewhat exaggerated, Chawla said, adding that the situation was within the tolerance zone as of now and there was no need for panic.
The finance secretary also said he did not see any dramatic rise in the FY10 expenditure or any additional government borrowing apart from the already projected figure but added that one may not see an impressive amount on the non-plan spend cut. “We are, however, confident on meeting the FY10 indirect tax mop-up targets.”
The government’s target to implement GST by its tight April 1, 2010, stands, he said, and the Finance Minister would meet states on September 16 on the issue.
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