Economy recovering but may take longer to achieve $5 trillion goal: Sanjeev Sanyal
"Of course, disruptions will be there. We had set a target of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024-25. It may take an additional year or so to achieve this,": Sanjeev Sanyal
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India's economy is recovering after the pandemic, but it may take "an additional year or so" to achieve the $5 trillion mark, Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Adviser to the Union Finance Ministry said this. Talking to reporters here, he said that the GDP growth in the April-June quarter is expected to be positive.
"Of course, disruptions will be there. We had set a target of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024-25. It may take an additional year or so to achieve this," said Sanjeev Sanyal
“But the aftershocks we went through (due to the Covid-19 pandemic), it is nothing,” said Sanyal, who attended an event of the Department of Economics of Devi Ahilya University here. He said the economy has started recovering rapidly after the second wave of the pandemic subsided and GDP growth is expected to be positive in the April-June quarter.
“If the country does not see any major damage from the (possible) third wave of the pandemic and vaccination continues at the same pace, you will see the economy grow in the next three-four months,” Sanyal said.
On the demand for bringing petrol and diesel under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST) amid rising fuel prices, he said, “Well, this question should be addressed to the GST Council and not to me.” That this matter is not a matter of discussion at this point of time as the GST system has to be stabilized for some time.”
Sanyal said the government is taking inflation seriously but there is a need to take cautious steps to control it as economic activity in the country is bouncing back after the second wave of the pandemic.
He said that international rating agencies keep changing their growth forecasts about the Indian economy but there has been no change in the government’s stand. “In the budget, we had a perception that the real growth rate of the Indian economy in the current financial year would be 10.5 per cent,” he said. Sanyal said economic activities are picking up pace and growth forecasts should not be given too much attention.
