8% Economy Growth Rate expected to be acheived : Arun Jaitley

    Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget 2018-19 speech exuded confidence that the economy in on the path of over 8 per cent growth rate. The finance minister said that 6.3 per cent growth clocked in the second quarter signalled the turnaround in economy. The growth in the second half of this fiscal (October-March) is expected to accelerate to between 7.2 per cent and 7.5 per cent, he added.

The finance minister also said that manufacturing is back on the growth path and recapitalised state banks will also be able to support growth.

In his Budget speech, the finance minister said that the government is focused on infrastructure creation, higher farmers' income and economic reforms. The indirect tax regime has been made simpler by the introduction of GST, he added. The structural growth initiative announced by the government will help the government to accelerate in the future, the minister said.

He also said that economy under the first three years of the NDA rule clocked growth of 7.5 per cent.

Economic growth is expected to slow to a four-year low of 6.75 per cent in the current fiscal ending March 31, 2018, according to the Economic Survey. GDP growth is expected to quicken to between 7 per cent and 7.5 per cent in fiscal year 2018-19.

In line with the expected thrust on the farm sector in Budget 2018-19, Mr Jaitley announced that the minimum support price (MSP) for all agriculture produce would be fixed at a level to ensure the farmer a minimum return of one and a half times over the production cost. The finance minister said this measure would go a long way to realise the government's goal of doubling farmers' income by 2022.