New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who as finance minister in the 90s initiated liberalisation, on Sunday said his government would steadily pursue reforms to feed economic growth, while withdrawing the fiscal stimulus by next year.
"Growth is expected to be around 6.5 percent (this fiscal). There are clearly signs of an upturn in the economy. With a normal monsoon next year, we hope to achieve a growth rate of over seven per cent," he said addressing the inaugural of the India Economic Summit organised by WEF and CII here.
For this growth to happen, Singh said reforms were essential, including in insurance that require legislative changes.
"(We) will strive to build political consensus needed for these legislative actions to be completed," he said, adding that a reformed financial system would help provide the finances needed for the country's development, especially for infrastructure.
He said the current economic showing indicated the resilience of the country and also "vindicates... the corrective action taken by the government to manage the (impact of the global economic) downturn - like other countries we resorted to a significant stimulus and we will
take appropriate action next year to wind this down."
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday said India will open its doors further to foreign investment and invited entrepreneurs from across the globe to participate in a host of areas, including infrastructure sectors.
"Our policy will be guided by the desire to make India even more attractive for foreign direct investment," the prime minister told the India Economic Summit of the World Economic Forum (WEF) here.
"We are particularly keen to rationalize and simplify procedures so as to create an investor friendly environment," he told the event, that also marks 25 years of engagement between the Davos-based organisation and India.
The Prime Minister said the measures taken by the Indian government had resulted in foreign direct investment worth USD 121 billion flowing into the country since 2001-02.
Bureau Report (with IANS inputs)