Targets not met, but current plan growth better than ever: PM

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New Delhi, July 24: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said though the country had fallen short of targets under the current five year plan, the overall projected average growth of 8.1 percent from 2007-12 was still better than in any other period.

"The mid-term appraisal projects the eleventh plan will achieve an annual average growth rate of 8.1 percent per year. This is lower than the target of 9 percent, but is still the highest ever achieved in any plan period," the prime minister said while addressing a meeting of the National Development Council (NDC), the country's top policy forum.

The council is meeting for a mid-term review of the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-12) and is being attended by all chief ministers, members of the Planning Commission and key members of the central cabinet.

The delegates will deliberate on five areas of concerns: agricultural productivity, management of water resources, power generation targets, issues of urbanization and specific problems of tribal development.

The prime minister also reiterated the government's stand that good monsoons would "dampen" the current levels of high inflation by the year end.

"The present high rate of inflation is mainly due to food price inflation. With a normal monsoon, which is the expectation at present, the rate of inflation in food prices will abate in the second half of the year," said Manmohan Singh.

"We expect to see the rate of inflation in wholesale prices come down to around six percent by December."