India will struggle to meet fiscal deficit target: Pranab

India will struggle to meet a fiscal deficit target of 4.6 percent for the fiscal year that ends in March, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday.

He said that the GDP growth could fall below 7.5 percent for this fiscal.

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Mukherjee said because some crucial legislation like FDI in retail could not be implemented, there will be a disruption in the progress of economic reforms.

However, Mukherjee added that inflation will drop to between 6 percent and 7 percent by the end of March.

India’s headline inflation was at 7.47 percent in December, a two-year low as food price pressure eased dramatically.

He said, “India’s growth has been hampered by political instability. But nothing can be done since it’s a part of multi-party democracy.”

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