No policy paralysis, GDP to touch 8% this year, Arvind Panagariya says

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Arvind Panagariya
Arvind Panagariya

Rejecting criticism that policy paralysis has returned to haunt the NDA in view of critical legislations getting stuck in Parliament, NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya says the economic growth this year may touch 8 per cent due to implementation of various critical economic reforms.

He asserts that projects are being cleared and gathering speed and ease of doing business has improved.

“In the last quarter meaning January to March, 2016, I expect that we would touch eight per cent mark, hopefully cross it a bit,” he told PTI here in an interview.

He said the economic growth for the entire year is expected to be at 7.5 per cent to eight per cent.

“We might get full eight per cent because I also expect the first quarter growth rate which has been at seven per cent for 2015-16 will be revised upwards,” he said. “We will continue to make progress. When we come to the last year of the present term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I would expect it would be near the double digit,” he added.

Panagariya, who is in Beijing for talks with China s key thinktank the Development Research Centre on the status of the China-Indian economies, strongly denied criticism that the policy paralysis is creeping into the Modi government in view of government’s inability to push through important legislations like GST Bill and Land Acquisition bills.

“I do not buy that. If you actually look at what the government has done, it is not the UPA government in operation. If the UPA government policies were continued we would have remained at five per cent or below. We have come out of it,” he said.

“The policy paralysis has been eliminated completely from the government. Three is a well functioning government at the centre,” Panagariya said.

“The Prime Minster himself single handedly has made huge effort due to which we have moved up 12 places in the (World Bank’s ease of doing business) rankings. This does not take a lot of changes into account because the changes have been made after the World Bank has completed its survey,” he said.

“So you will see a much greater jump in the next round,” he added.

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