Worst for economy over: Pranab

New Delhi: : Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee while recalling the hard days of the past two years, presenting the Budget, said that the worst was over for the economy and the days ahead were promising though not without challenges.

`` I can say with some confidence that we have weathered this crisis well,`` he told the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament while presenting the Union Budget.

He also said that it did not mean that the challenges today were any less than they were nine months ago, when the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) was voted back to power under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Mukherjee pointed out that the three challenges he had listed in 2009 remained relevant even today -- reverting to a high growth path of 9 percent and cross over to double-digit expansion; making growth more inclusive and developing infrastructure in rural areas; and strengthening food security.

In 2009, when presenting the interim budget in February and the full budget in July, the Indian economy was facing grave uncertainty, the economy slowed down and business sentiment was low, he said and noted this years budget had come against the backdrop of the Economic Survey for 2009-10, which noted that the country’s growth can go up to double digit levels in four years.

This was Mukherjee's fourth budget of his career as finance minister and the second for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in its second straight term after being voted back to office in May last year.

February 26, 2010