Mukherjee says Govt. to strive hard to bring down fiscal deficit

New Delhi, July 7 (ANI): The government on Tuesday reiterated its commitment to come back to the higher growth path as fast as possible.

Speaking at an interactive session with industry leaders in New Delhi, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the growth has to be inclusive and not only in statistical terms.

He said investment in areas like rural infrastructure and agriculture will give the desired growth rates in a shorter span of time, compared to other segments.

Mukherjee said that the government has taken the risk of letting the fiscal deficit rise to achieve the higher growth rate.

He said that the Finance Ministry would strive hard in the next two fiscals to bring down the fiscal deficit to four percent.

Mukherjee also ruled out any roll back of the stimulus measures announced earlier by the government.

He said that the government was committed to divesting its equity in public sector enterprises, but will retain a minimum of 51 per cent equity in these entities.

On concerns that the government's huge borrowing would deplete the market of liquidity for corporate borrowers, he said that the borrowing programme would keep in mind the requirements of the private sector. The Finance Minister said that the aim was to achieve at least 9 per cent of GDP available for investment in infrastructure by 2014. (ANI)