India must aim for 10% growth -- PM

India must aim for 10% growth -- PM
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU

JULY 9: The Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee said on Sunday that the country must aim for 10 per cent economic growth in the next few years, up from 7 per cent expected by the end of current fiscal year in order to catch up quickly with the developed nations. The prime Minister was speaking at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building while participating in the stock exchange's 125th anniversary.

``India is a nuclear power now. Our economy must reflect our new, self confident status on the world scene,'' he told a gathering of stock brokers and financial sector in the BSE's towering Rotunda hall.

``For this, the capital markets, including the operations of financial institutions should be completely free from all kinds of political interference,'' the prime minister promised to a captive audience.

``Faster economic growth requires a far higher level of resource mobilisation as investments into all the productive sectors of the economy. This is where our stock exchanges have a critical role to play. I see the stock markets as the torchbearers of faster economic reforms,'' he added.

The Prime Minister asked the stock brokers to protect the interest of the small investors and asked operators to refrain from creating artificial volatility in the market.

``The confidence of small investors should not be shaken by unscrupulous operators by creating artificial volatility in the market,'' he advised.

``If rigging in elections and cricket match is bad... rigging in stock markets is equally bad,'' he added.

He underlined the urgent need for strengthening the ``regulatory environment'' of capital market. On the other hand, the stock exchanges should also keep their internal management tight, he said.

``Because of the overriding influence of the license-permit-quota raj, we did not give the rightful place to our stock markets to mobilise and allocate capital,'' he said.

``The fault was not only political, but also had to do with the failure of the business class and all the other market participants to evolve a healthy investment culture in the country,'' he added.

Earlier, Finance Minister, Yashwant Sinha said that the 8-10 per cent economic growth is possible provided the country continues its ongoing economic reform process. ``The perception of stock exchanges as `gambling pits' was changing,'' he said. ``More money funds should flow from the capital markets to the infrastructure sector while opening up of the insurance sector and utilisation of pension and provident funds would ensure that the resources from these sectors would be at the disposal of infrastructure building,'' Sinha said.