India had only one bad year, says Singh
New Delhi: Hitting back at the Opposition for focusing only on “one bad year”, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday assured industry that the government will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the Indian economy re-bounds.
“Our political critics focus on the experience of one bad year. This makes for good television but it is a very distorted picture,” Dr Singh said in his address to the 92nd AGM of industry chamber Assocham. Dr Singh noted that economic growth during the Congress-led UPA government was faster than under previous governments.
“The average growth rate in the eight years of the UPA, from 2004-05 to 2012-13, was 8.2 per cent per annum. This is much better than the 5.7 per cent reached in the previous eight years,” said the Prime Minister said. He said poverty declined at a faster rate during UPA rule and rural wages rose much faster.
“The percentage of population below the poverty line declined at 0.75 percentage points per year before our government came to office in 2004-05. It has fallen more than two percentage points per year between 2004-05 and 2011-12,” said Dr Singh. He said this is a record that any government can be proud of.
Dr Singh asked industry “not to be overcome by negative sentiments”. “I assure you we will get out of it (economic slowdown),” said the PM. He noted that growth in the current fiscal is likely to be lower than the 6.5 per cent aimed at in the Union Budget.
“I must emphasise that it is not the exact growth number for 2013-14 that matters. What is important is that the economy should turn around from the five per cent achieved last year,” said Dr Singh.
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