Eavesdropper

Raj Krishna made the term “Hindu rate of growth” famous when he talked of how, no matter what you did, India’s rate of growth wouldn’t move beyond 3-4%. Well, there’s a new numeral in town, and it doesn’t deal with just growth. According to a senior gent in the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC), everything seems to be converging to the numbers 5 and 5. Economic growth of 5.5%, a likely Q3 current account deficit of 5.5% of GDP, a fiscal deficit of 5.5% of GDP … no, the inflation numbers aren’t trending down to this holy numeral, nor is IIP trending up towards it. As yet.