Rahul welcome in Cabinet, says Manmohan Singh

New Delhi, Aug 11: Prime Minister

today evaded questions on a likely Cabinet reshuffle next month but gave enough indication that AICC general secretary

could be included in the government soon.

Talking to reporters at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the PM said, "When it happens you all will know. I have always maintained that I welcome Rahul's entry into the Cabinet."

In Jul, the 'crown prince' of the Congress had expressed his desire to play a larger role in both the ruling party and the government. According to Rahul, his "two bosses" would decide the timing of his entry into the Cabinet. The reference was to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.

When reporters asked him today about the Moody's downgrade, the Prime Minister admitted that it is a cause for concern. "But we should not draw unwarranted conclusions. The fundamentals of the Indian economy are sound," he averred.

"India's investments and savings were still the highest in the world. This year I am hopeful that we will do better than the growth performance of 6.5 per cent of last year," the PM added.

On Aug 9, Moody's Analytics had said that the country's GDP growth rate is expected to be 6 per cent in 2013 instead of the 6.2 per cent forecast earlier.

The credit rating organisation also noted, "Indian economy is expected to grow at 5.5 per cent this year as turbulent global conditions, domestic policy mis-steps and poor monsoon are weighing on investor confidence and demand."

OneIndia News