PM Manmohan Singh feels India will grow at a rate of 7.5-8% in the current year. He said that the global turmoil has only partially affected the country, so the index will not differ much from the previous years’ values. He further reasoned that the well-capitalised state of Indian banks has enabled them escape the disastrous consequences which some of the banks overseas could not.
He echoed with Japan’s proposal to reinforce IMF (International Monetary Fund), if any such need arises and assured of India’s participation in it. This would, in turn, help in overcoming tough times, like the current financial disturbance.
In a response to question by Japanese media on CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement), he said that striking a deal may not be possible in the current visit as differences exist on both the sides. However, he seemed hopeful of such development occurring by the end of this year. The negotiations for CEPA started in January’07 and has till now moved through a number of rounds. Some of the issues that require agreements are Japan’s demand to put concessions on the automobile parts exported to India and India’s wish of simplifying the approval procedure in Japan, of a generic drug.
