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Bangalore: The Prime Minister addressed some critical issues relating to the slowdown in India's economy in his address during the Plenary Session of the seventh Summit of the Group of 20 developed and developing countries.

PM said his government was determined to take "tough" decisions, including on controlling subsidies, to reverse the expansion of the fiscal deficit, even as he expressed confidence of bringing back the rhythm of high growth of 8-9 per cent per annum.

Concerned over the dip in India's economic growth, Singh said the public in the country is "impatient" for a return to high growth and faster jobs creation. He also said that steps were being taken to revive investor sentiment in the country.

"Like other countries, we too allowed the fiscal deficit to expand after 2008 to impart a stimulus. We are now focusing on reversing the expansion. This will require tough decisions, including on controlling subsidies, which we are determined to take," Singh told the galaxy of world leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama.

India is targeting a fiscal deficit of 5.1 percent of GDP for this fiscal year. But a higher subsidy bill and lower tax revenue have resulted in its fiscal projections for 2011-12 go awry. The fiscal deficit was 5.8 per cent in 2011-12, wider than the initial target of 4.6 per cent. The country's growth slowed to a nine-year low of 5.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011-12.

 Referring to the slowdown in India like other emerging economies, the prime minister acknowledged that internal constraints have also affected performance and that the government was working to correct them. He added, "The global downturn and especially the impact on capital flows have played their part. Internal constraints have also affected performance and we are working to correct them." 

Singh said, "Our growth rate in 2011-12 declined to 6.9 percent from the level of 8.4 percent in the previous year. This may look like a reasonable figure, given growth rates being experienced in the rest of the world, but our public is impatient for a return to high growth and faster jobs creation. The fundamentals of the Indian economy remain strong and we are confident of bringing back the rhythm of high growth of 8-9 per cent per annum."