Thaindian News

New Delhi, June 8 (IANS) Amid apprehensions of a slowdown in the economy and a spate of scams that has dented India’s global image, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee heads to Washington later this month to meet industry leaders and assure them that the country’s growth prospects are robust.

Mukherjee is expected to meet US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner June 27 and discuss a host of issues to step up trade and investment between the two countries.

Mukherjee, the seniormost minister in the Manmohan Singh government, will be accompanied by Reserve Bank of India governor D. Subbarao and SEBI chairman U.K. Sinha.

He will address a conference on India-US economic and financial cooperation, organised by The Brookings Institution and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and meet top investors in the US capital to dispel their worries about the growth prospects of the Indian economy.

Mukherjee’s visit will take place against the backdrop of an economic slowdown that saw India’s GDP growth rate slowing down to 7.2 per cent in January-March. Besides, soaring inflation as well as reports of Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) pulling out $1.44 billion in May, has stirred anxieties among foreign investors about India’s reputation as an emerging investment hub.

At a meeting with 30 leading institutional investors, including the the foreign ones here, Mukherjee Tuesday exhorted them to remain optimistic and take a long-term view of the economy.

“The government is committed to doing all that is necessary to achieving and sustaining a higher economic growth rate,” he told them. He expressed confidence that the Indian economy will register 8.5 per cent growth in current fiscal, higher than the 8 per cent recorded in 2010-11.

This will be Mukherjee’s message to top coroporate honchos in Washington as well, an official said while pointing to the finance minister’s interaction with investors in the Indian capital.

In his interactions with the business community and US officials in Washington, Mukherjee is also likely to assure that India was in the process of building consensus on foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail and insurance - areas in which US investors have shown much interest.

Mukherjee’s visit will also be significant in as much as it will take place shortly before US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits New Delhi in July for the second strategic dialogue with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna.