Political Controversies Apart, FDI Inflows Almost Doubled In Q1: Pranab.

LONDON: Asserting that political controversies in India did not dent the investor sentiment, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said FDI inflows rose to more than $7.9 billion during April-June quarter, which is almost twice the amount received during the year-ago period.

"The ground reality is that in the last three months, India received more than USD 7.9 billion FDI, almost double the amount recorded during the corresponding period in the previous year .It speaks of the investment climate," Mukherjee said answering a question if political controversies in the country had caused distress to investors.

"Our projections we have made in the budget, I have not addressed, because the first quarter figures are not yet available. I don't visualise any substantial change," he added.

Holding a joint press conference with British Chancellor of Exchequer George Osborne after their meeting here, Mukherjee said inflation and fiscal consolidation are areas of concerns.

"We cannot allow fiscal deficit to go up-- it reached 6.5 per cent of GDP; it has been brought down to 4.7 per cent during 2010-11," he noted.

Food inflation has come down from 22 per cent in February 2010 to 8 per cent now, he said.

"Even 8 per cent food inflation is not acceptable, he added.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com