AP CM envisages double-digit growth during 2008-09

Hyderabad, Feb 19 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today claimed that the state would register double-digit growth during 2008-09, due to proactive policies of the UPA Government at the Centre and the Congress Government in Andhra Pradesh.

During a debate on the motion of thanks for the Governor's address amid frequent interruptions by the members of the Opposition TDP, he said the state was fortunate to have Mr N D Tiwari, an eminent politician, as Governor.

Though the advance estimates projected a growth rate of 10.37 per cent for next year, the state could easily achieve 11 per cent growth going by the past experiences, he added.

Showering praises on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said, ''We are fortunate to have eminent economists as the Prime Minister, who as Finance Minister, under the then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao had put the country on the path of development with a new economic policy in the early 1990s.'' The state had posted an average growth rate of 9.32 per cent in the last three years, he noted, adding that it would result in higher revenue for the government and enable it to allocate more funds for welfare schemes and developmental programmes.

The state's tax revenues had grown by 22 per cent in 2006-07 and doubled over the last four years without imposing any new taxes.

On the other hand, the average economic growth during the TDP rule was only 5.85 per cent from 1994-95 to 2003-04 as against the national average of 6.13 per cent, he said.

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