FM wont revise down growth target

Even though an erratic monsoon is likely to play spoilsport and slow down the countrys growth engine,the government continues to maintain its optimistic tone and expects economic growth of over 6 per cent for this fiscal. There is no reason to revise my target which I am expecting 6 per cent plus. Whether it will be 6.5 per cent or 6.7 per cent,whether I will be able to retain last years (economic growth rate),I do not know. There may be some deceleration in second and third quarters … but the fourth quarter will make up, said finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in his opening remarks at the Forum of Financial Writers here on Monday. The economy grew by 6.1 per cent in the first quarter of this fiscal on the back of steady industrial production figures. It was the fastest pace since the crash of Lehman Brothers in September last year led to the global financial crisis. But,I am a little doubtful whether we would be able to maintain the same rate in the second quarter and the third quarter. Agriculture growth in the second quarter and the third quarter will be little less, Mukherjee said. The RBI has already projected the economy to grow by 6 per cent this fiscal with an upward bias,and the government has stood by that estimate.