India's strong fundamentals will help to return to high growth: Mukherjee

Manila, May 5 (ANI): Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday expressed confidant that the Indian economy would return to the pre-global crisis growth path in the coming years.

Addressing a press conference in Manila, after taking over as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Mukherjee said: "I am confident that the strong fundamentals of our economy will help us return to a sustained growth path of pre 2008 crisis level in the coming years."

"We have taken several steps to shore up the short and medium term growth prospects which include gradual liberalization of capital market and encouraging capital inflows including through FIIs, FDI and in the area of External Commercial Borrowings, especially for infrastructure financing," he said.

"The Indian economy is more resilient than many other nations to withstand this fresh round of global economic turmoil, as the bulk of India's GDP is domestic demand driven. India's External Commercial Borrowings Policy has been successful in maintaining external debt at sustainable levels. India's banking sector is robust and our regulatory architecture is mostly in place,' he added.

On the fiscal front, Mukherjee said that we are committed to bring down the subsidy bill below two per cent of GDP in 2012-13 and to 1.75 per cent of GDP in next three years.

He said while India was the founding member of the ADB in 1966, its lending operations in India began two decades later.

" India is a founder member of the ADB and our association with the institution dates back to 1966. The 45th Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of ADB here in Manila provided opportunity for meeting intellectuals and policy makers from across Asia and the world," he said.

"In my intervention at the First Business Session of the Board of Governors yesterday, I highlighted that infrastructure development, dealing with the challenge of urbanization, managing food security, raising agricultural productivity, promoting efficient renewable sources of energy, improving livelihoods through inclusive growth and advancing regional cooperation are some of the key areas which need to be addressed with seriousness for sustaining the growth of Asian region. ADB is uniquely placed to assist in realizing the full potential of the region,' he added. (ANI)