PM @ the CII Session

Slowing economic growth, stubborn inflation, widening current account and fiscal deficits, delay in implementation of projects have sapped confidence and attracted strong criticism from India Inc.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh admitted there were many deficiencies but said they existed even when the economy was growing at 8%. “One of the advantages of being a democracy is that our shortcomings and deficiencies are always put before us. And there are many deficiencies. Corruption is a problem. Bureaucratic inertia is a problem. Managing coalitions is not easy. But these problems have not arisen suddenly,” the PM said.
Singh, the architect of India’s economic reforms, also took a dig at Indian industry saying he welcomed the rediscovery on the part of business of the importance of government. “In 2007, I often heard it that government had become irrelevant because India will grow at 9% whatever the government does. The consensus today is that unless the government acts swiftly, our growth which has already decelerated will be perennially stuck at 5%,” Singh said.
The PM also admitted that there was a need to revive sentiment and create an environment in which enterprise can flourish and create both jobs and growth. “The environment today is not what it should be, and that is what the government must correct,” Singh said and called for efforts to forcefully deal with the several domestic constraints that have arisen and which must be removed to enable the economy to perform at its full potential. “... and we must prove the prophets of gloom as wrong. We are seeing, I believe, a temporary downturn, which does happen. After all, business cycles have been a recurrent theme of all textbooks in economics in the past. I believe, we have seen a temporary downturn, which does happen from time to time. We must recognize it as such and take corrective action,” Singh said.
The PM said the government was determined to “everything possible to achieve the fiscal deficit target” outlined in the 2013-14 budget and also promised all steps to ensure that capital inflows remain strong to finance the current account deficit.
He also said inflation was softening but still remained a problem and needs to be brought down further. Singh, the economist-turned politician, said the full effect of the steps unveiled in the 2013-14 budget would be felt in the next few months and hoped that they help improve investor sentiment.