Recovery dependent on global turnaround: Mukherjee

September 23rd, 2009 KOLKATA - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday said the country's economy would grow over 6 percent this fiscal and that the government planned to scale down fiscal deficit to 4 percent by 2012. "During the first quarter, the GDP (gross domestic product) grew by 6.1 percent and we expect it to grow a little better in the second quarter.

September 23rd, 2009 KOLKATA - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday said the government planned to scale down fiscal deficit to 4 percent by 2012. "We should try to bring down the fiscal deficit to 5 percent in 2011 and 4 percent by 2012," Mukherjee said in an address at the 155th annual general meeting of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry here.

September 19th, 2009 BANGALORE - The stimulus package, introduced in the last fiscal to protect the Indian economy from the impact of the global financial crisis, would continue till the economies of Europe and US recover, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here Saturday. "At the recently held G-20 countries' finance ministers' meet in London, we came to the conclusion that we should not reverse the stimulant package, which we have injected in the aftermath of international financial crisis, till the full recovery in Europe and North America is distinctly visible," Mukherjee told reporters at a news conference.

September 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - In a clear and firm message Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday that ministers and bureaucrats who are entitled to travel on state expenses should undertake domestic travel in economy class. Mukherjee said that they could fly in business class for international travel.

September 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - G-20 countries have decided to continue with the stimulus packages till the global economy is fully revived, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Monday. The club of finance ministers of developed and developing nations also agreed to postpone the "exit strategy" till the full recovery of the world economy.

July 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Indian economy is showing some early signs of recovery and the government will ensure that its policies help nurse the country back to high growth path, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Tuesday. "There are some early indications of recovery," Mukherjee said during his reply to the debate on the national budget in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament.

July 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Saturday sought to allay apprehensions that high government borrowings to fund welfare and infrastructure programmes will crowd out credit to industry and said loans at competitive prices will continue to be made available to India Inc. "We will meet the requirements of the private sector from the market," the finance minister told reporters here after a post-budget meeting with the top brass of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) here.

July 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The decline in India's exports due to the global financial crisis has been arrested and a turnaround is now visible, the Rajya Sabha was informed Wednesday. "The downward trend has been arrested and now a turnaround is visible," Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said during question hour.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A new direct tax code will be introduced in 45 days and bring changes in the indirect tax structures, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday said while presenting the union budget for 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha Monday. Reiterating his commitment to expedite tax reforms, Mukherjee also said he would aim to introduce the goods and services tax by the initial deadline of April 10, 2010.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday proposed an increase in the personal income tax exemption limits by Rs. 15,000 for senior citizens from Rs.

April 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has rejected BJP claims that the United Progressive Alliance is falling apart. On Sunday, Mukherjee told reporters in New Delhi that all the constituents of the alliance except PMK are still with the UPA.

February 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee began presenting the interim budget for the next fiscal amid expectations that measures will be announced to cushion the impact of global meltdown on the Indian economy, and help revive consumer demand. The exercise began with Mukherjee reading out his budget speech in the Lok Sabha, during which he will also seek an approval to finance the government's expenditure, till such time the regular budget is presented by a new government after elections, and passed by parliament.

January 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has undergone a successful heart surgery, must have had 'some stress', External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said. 'Some stress must have been there but I really don't know how this has happened,' Mukherjee told Shekhar Gupta in an interview for NDTV to be telecast Jan 31.

January 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Stung by the Nov 26 terror attack in Mumbai that left around 170 people dead, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday called for a new global partnership to 'dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism'. 'We need new partnerships at the global level to counter the threat of terrorism,' Mukherjee told the 'Partnership Summit 2009' organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.

January 16th, 2009 KOLKATA - The Rs.70 billion (Rs.7,000-crore/$1.43 billion) Satyam Computer Services scam is an 'isolated' case in the corporate sector of India, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here Saturday. 'The Satyam scam has undoubtedly impacted our securities market.