Poor monsoon could hit India’s growth: Planning board chief

By IANS,

New Delhi : The erratic monsoon could hit India’s economic growth this year, but the country has enough food stocks to counter inflationary pressures, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said here Tuesday.

---

Support TwoCircles

---

“The existence of drought by itself can only lead to some shaving down of growth projections,” Ahluwalia told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

“But we have enough food stocks to counter inflationary pressures,” he added.

The government has so far declared 177 out of India’s 626 districts drought-hit.

Earlier in the day, Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, after meeting the heads of regional rural banks, said here that he expected the economy to grow at over 6 percent in the current fiscal.