Finance Minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee said the economy may expand by over 7% in 2011-12 and inflation could ease to 6 to 7% by March end, even as economists urged the government to adopt fiscal discipline and push policy reforms for higher growth.

Mr Mukherjee told a group of eminent economists at the pre Budget meeting that "We are hopeful that by the end of March, the headline inflation would be between 6 and 7% while the growth rate may be around 7% plus.”

The Finance Minister, who would present the Union Budget in the middle of March, discussed the challenges faced by the economy on both global and domestic fronts. He said that "The current year was a challenging year as we had to face the problem of inflation, fiscal deficit and maintenance of sustainable and inclusive growth.”

Due to volatility of international crude prices, euro zone crisis and overall slowdown in the growth process in developed countries, the emerging economies including India had also to face the adverse impact of global slowdown.

(Sourced from ET)