& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Invest forex reserves in high-yielding entities

Indian president asks bankers

PALLAB BHATTACHARYA, New Delhi
Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam has suggested that the country's burgeoning foreign exchange reserves be invested in high-yielding enterprises to help achieve 7-8 percent economic growth.
Addressing a bankers’ conference here Wednesday, Kalam said the banks should take upon themselves to invest a portion of the 121 -dollar billion foreign exchange reserves in relatively higher-yield ventures.
"The days of development financial institutions seem to be over. The current fashion is the Universal Bank," he said and urged the banks to play a positive role to help the country reach faster towards the target of seven to eight percent of economic growth every year.
The president asked the banks to enhance farm credit, to be more liberal in giving educational loans, make provisions for financing 100 million dwelling units, innovatively fund 300,000 small scale units to help them secure the latest technology and nurture rural development projects to give jobs to at least 10 million youth.
He also asked the banks to allocate at least Rs 10,000 crore for providing venture capital to innovative scientists and technologists working in manufacturing, agriculture and services sectors including information and communication technology.
Kalam also asked the banks to lake the lead in giving concession in lending to help set up corporate hospitals which could make available healthcare facilities in villages through medical insurance and medical tourism.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund has said India can chalk up to ten percent annual economic growth for a number of years with the appropriate mix of fiscal policies and continued reforms.
The Indian economy grew by 8.2 percent in 2003-4 ending in March this year but the same is widely projected to be between six and six and half percent in the current financial year of 2004-5 largely due to inadequate monsoon and high global crude prices.
"Growth of ten percent is certainly possible for a number of years with a feasible mixture of policies,’ IMF's first Deputy Managing Director Anne Krueger told the conference.
India is already reaping the benefits of liberalizing its economy in the early 1990s and more would follow once it got fully integrated with the world economy, she said.
Reserve Bank of India Governor Y V Reddy said there was no reason to revise downward its projections of 6-6.5 percent economic growth and an average inflation rate of 6.5 percent in the current fiscal year.
The RBI had in its credit policy announcement last month had made the projection of 6 to 6.5 percent growth as against the earlier .prediction of 6.5 to 7 percent and raised the inflation outlook from five percent to 6.5 percent largely due to surging global crude prices.
Reddy said there were some indications that international crude prices might moderate in the next couple of months and "so on balance we feel that the assessment made in the monetary policy is still valid."
Referring to Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia's suggestion for using foreign exchange reserves to fund infrastructure projects, Reddy said while RBI Is not opposed to the Idea, the government should come out with a plan how to use the reserves for infrastructure development.
But in doing so, the government should be cautions and examine the possible direct and indirect impact on the fiscal and monetary situations in the country including financial stability, Reddy said.