Chennai: Inflation, which has crossed the psychological 12% level, would come down to 5-6% in the next one year while the economy is expected to grow at 9%, a Finance Ministry official said on 8 August.
“In the next 12 months, inflation, which is at 12.01% now, may be expected to come down to 5-6%,” Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Virmani said on the sidelines of a CII meet on the state of Indian Economy here.
Measures taken by the government would control the price rise, he said.
Virmani expressed confidence that the country’s GDP growth would also increase to a considerable level as per the 11th Five Year Plan. “Currently it is prevailing between 8-8.9% but I am absolutely confident of 9% growth.”
Replying to a query, he said media was focusing only on the expenditure of the country than the income generated.
“When the country makes huge expenses, media projects the expenditure but what about the income. I do accept that in some areas the expenses do affect, but the income in the form of investments has also increased,” he said.
The country’s growth has accelerated in the last five years on account of the investment made, while consumption growth remained robust, Virmani said.
“The telecom, construction and manufacturing sector were the major contributors for the growth,” he said.
Commenting on the impact of global inflation on domestic prices, Virmani said that the oil commodities index had grown from 10% to 62% affecting food prices highly.
“We import 60% of edible oil and it has affected food prices,” he said.