Government is keen to achieve high a growth rate of 8.5 to 9 percent in the coming years. Inaugurating the economic editor’s conference in New Delhi this evening, the finance minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee said that improvement in governance, broadening the agenda of inclusive growth would have to be addressed on a priority basis. <br/>Referring the lower growth rate this year, Mr. Mukherjee gave the details that are responsible for it. He said that the impact of global economic melt down and bad moon soon are primarily responsible for it. The growth target for the current fiscal is estimated around 6.5 percent. Mr. Mukherjee asked the state governments to start new projects in public private partnership mode in new areas to speed up the growth process. <br/>He said that the economy is showing distinct signs of revival but the failure of moon soon on agriculture input and the timing of the global economic revival is some important areas of concern. He asserted that the foreign exchange reserves have increased and India’s external debt position is also within the comfort zone. <br/>He however said that there is a need to speed up development and infrastructure projects. The finance minister asked the banks to ensure that credit is available to all sectors particularly farm sector and small and medium industries who are the largest employment providers. <br/>Talking about inflation he said that the indications suggest that it may continue to rise in the months ahead. It is expected to be around 6.5 percent by the end of March next year. <br/>Talking about the fiscal stimulus given by the government and the RBI, the finance minister said that the time of the exit has not yet come. There are still some areas of concern. Labour intensive sectors particularly exports are yet to pick up and their major chunk go to the developed countries. <br/>He asserted that the disinvestments policy will continue and more PSU’ s will be identified and their minimum shares will be sold only when the market conditions are suitable for them. He however maintained that the government stake in any public sector company would not come down below 51 percent. <br/>Replying a volley of questions, Mr. Mukherjee said that fiscal deficit would be brought down to 4 per cent by 2011-12.<br/>