Jr finance minister sees econ growth unscathed by political events

[K.Karthik Raja]

Jr finance minister sees econ growth unscathed by political events
Wednesday, Jul 9

NEW DELHI - India's economic growth is unlikely to be hurt due to
the recent political developments, Minister of State for Finance Pawan
Kumar Bansal said today.
"We are confident growth will not be impacted... There will be no
political instability in the coming weeks. Situations arise when the
government has to seek vote of confidence," Bansal told reporters on
the sidelines of a function.
The United Progressive Alliance government is set to take a trust
vote in Parliament after its Left allies withdrew support over the
Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear deal.
The UPA is now banking on support from Samajwadi Party and a few
other small parties and independents to sail through the confidence
motion.
The Left Front and the Bharatiya Janata Party have been demanding
that the trust vote be held as soon as possible.
The monsoon session of Parliament is set to take off on Aug 11.
However, the government Tuesday said it would like to expedite the
trust vote, and if needed a special session would be convened earlier.
India's economy has been expanding at 9% or above over the last
three years, and the government expects growth of around 8.5% in the
current financial year to March. End