PM wants stimulus to stay

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday warned against “premature” withdrawal of the stimulus package for the revival of the global economy hit by the worst crisis since the Great Depression. He also called for resisting the temptation to resort to protectionist pressures.

“First, the problem must be tackled at its root by ensuring the quickest possible return to normalcy in the global economy.

This requires a commitment that we will not undertake any premature withdrawal of stimulus,” he said while addressing the G20 Summit here hosted by US President Barack Obama.

“We must certainly plan for an orderly exit when the time is right, but that time is not now. The global economy may be bottoming out, but it is not expected to reach 3 per cent growth until the end of 2010,”he said.

Strong pitch

In his address at the summit attended by world leaders belonging to the developed countries and major emerging economies, the prime minister  made a strong pitch for restoring the momentum of growth in the developing world and said there was need to replace lost export demand and to expand investment.

Singh expressed confidence that despite a drought that will effect agricultural production, India expects to grow by 6.3 per cent in 2009-2010 and then recover to 7 to 7.5 per cent growth next year.

After growing at 9 per cent per year for four years the economy slowed down to 6.7 per cent in 2008-09.