India can grow at 8-9% for 20 years: Montek
19 May 2012 5:47 AM GMT
India has the potential to grow at 8-9 per cent for the next two decades and a supportive global environment will help the country achieve this goal, deputy chairman of Indian Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said.
Addressing a high level debate on 'State of the World Economy and Finance in 2012' at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, Ahluwalia said the Indian economy grew at an average rate of 9 per cent in the five years prior to the financial crisis of 2008.
The growth slowed down to just over 7 per cent following the crisis.
'We believe India has the potential to grow at rates between 8 or 9 per cent for the next twenty years and to do so in an inclusive manner,' Ahluwalia said.
'There are many challenges we have to face domestically to achieve this target but we believe we can do so,' he added.
Ahluwalia said India would be greatly helped if the global environment is supportive, and 'we are willing to work with others to make it so'.
While the financial crisis slowed growth in developing nations, he said, it was satisfying to note that growth rates have remained more robust than many would have expected, particularly when expansion in the developed countries has been hit hard by the financial crisis.
'This 'growth resilience' reflects the fact that large numbers of developing countries now have stronger human and institutional capacities to grow. These economies are not delinked from industrialised countries; the links are strong, but they operate on a higher underlying growth potential,' he said.
Ahluwalia said slower growth in the industrialised world will limit the export potential of developing countries. Faster growth in developing countries as a group is creating new opportunities for trade expansion which would help offset loss of markets in the industrialised world.
'The shift in economic weight in favour of the developing world that is taking place is a natural consequence of the process of convergence and should be welcomed.
Addressing a high level debate on 'State of the World Economy and Finance in 2012' at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, Ahluwalia said the Indian economy grew at an average rate of 9 per cent in the five years prior to the financial crisis of 2008.
The growth slowed down to just over 7 per cent following the crisis.
'We believe India has the potential to grow at rates between 8 or 9 per cent for the next twenty years and to do so in an inclusive manner,' Ahluwalia said.
'There are many challenges we have to face domestically to achieve this target but we believe we can do so,' he added.
Ahluwalia said India would be greatly helped if the global environment is supportive, and 'we are willing to work with others to make it so'.
While the financial crisis slowed growth in developing nations, he said, it was satisfying to note that growth rates have remained more robust than many would have expected, particularly when expansion in the developed countries has been hit hard by the financial crisis.
'This 'growth resilience' reflects the fact that large numbers of developing countries now have stronger human and institutional capacities to grow. These economies are not delinked from industrialised countries; the links are strong, but they operate on a higher underlying growth potential,' he said.
Ahluwalia said slower growth in the industrialised world will limit the export potential of developing countries. Faster growth in developing countries as a group is creating new opportunities for trade expansion which would help offset loss of markets in the industrialised world.
'The shift in economic weight in favour of the developing world that is taking place is a natural consequence of the process of convergence and should be welcomed.
Next Story
