Pranab Mukherjee roots for lower, acceptable, stable interest rate

Kolkata, Jan 20 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday pitched for a lower, acceptable and stable interest rate, saying it will encourage investors to put their money in India.

Addressing the Bengal Global Business Summit, the President said all important macro-economic parameters were strong - high growth, prudent fiscal management, investor friendly policies and under control inflation.

"And I have no doubt all the parameters and studies suggest that there should be lower, acceptable and stable interest rate, which will no doubt encourage the prospective investors to invest in India," Mukherjee said after inaugurating the two-day business meet here.

The President iterated that the Indian economy overall has showed its tremendous resilience.

"For the last ten years it has grown at the rate of 7.6 per cent, despite two very important setbacks - the 2008 financial crisis, which had its adverse impact on all developed economies, followed by the Eurozone crisis".

As a consequence, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank reports revised the growth projection of the world economy.

The President said the impact was felt in India, which registered a steady nine plus per cent annual growth between 2004 and 2008.

"The 2008 crisis had its impact on the growth of 8-9 per cent, but shortly we overcame it," he added.