He told the Rajya Sabha that the economies around the world were going through uncertain times which is having an impact on India and causing difficulties particularly in terms of balance of payments.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said difficult decisions were needed to revert to the 9% growth trajectory and asked political parties to eschew narrow partisan approach and stand united.
He told the Rajya Sabha that the economies around the world were going through uncertain times which is having an impact on India and causing difficulties particularly in terms of balance of payments.
"These are the circumstances in which our economy has to chart out a path. And I would be the last one to say that we do not face difficulties," Singh said in reply to the debate in the Rajya Sabha on Motion of Thanks to the President for her address.
He asked the members to recognise the "pitfalls and dangers that lie ahead if we do not rise to the occasion and help the government to undertake remedial measures in time."
Exuding confidence that India can revert to 9% growth rate, he said, "This is an occasion when we must eschew narrow partisan approach and stand united as a cohesive nation."
Talking about difficulties, the economist Prime Minister referred to balance of payment deficit on current account, which is now as high as 3.6%, the deficit on fiscal balance account of 5.9% and said this cannot be tolerated year after year.
Pointing out to the fragile recovery the industrialised nations had registered in the wake of 2008-09 financial crisis, Singh said this has resulted in too much liquidity in the world economy resulting in "pressure on balance of payment" and "pressure on prices."
Terming the 7% growth as "commendable" under the circumstances, he stressed the need to strive to improve upon this next year saying "we must do this while also ensuring that we make progress towards our objective of achieving the inclusive growth with reasonable price stability."
Singh also sought support from political formations to raise economic growth rate saying "we need a broad-based national consensus covering all sections of political opinion represented in this August House."
He said the 12th Plan, to be placed before the National Development Council (NDC) around mid-year, will lay out a credible plan of action for faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth. "I do not wish to go into details, but only wish to remind the members that our path is not easy."
Indian economy used to grow by over 9% before the global financial meltdown pulled it down to 6.7% in 2008-09. The growth in the current fiscal is likely to moderate to three-year low of 6.9%, down from 8.4% in the two preceding years. For the next fiscal, the government expects a growth of 7.6%.
Though the government had initially projected a growth rate of 9% for 2011-12, it has now been estimated at 6.9%.
The Prime Minister said that he did not agree to BJP's charge that President's address does not lay out a road map as not only it highlights the working of existing programmes but also the new initiatives to bring about faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth.
Referring to concerns raised on black money, he said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has already explained in his Budget Speech, the Government's approach as to how it proposes to deal with the menace.
"He has also promised the House that the government will come forward with a White Paper. I, therefore, hope that there will be ample opportunities in the rest of the session to deal with these issues," he said.
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