Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has strongly refuted observations by US think-tanks, the government and industry that India has gone slow on economic reforms. Mr. Mukherjee insisted that a series of reforms are in the process, which will lead to the next round of growth. Addressing a conference of India and American corporate leaders and policymakers in Washington on the 'US-India Economic and Financial Partnership', the Finance Minister observed that reforms in India require political consensus and the UPA government is committed to it. Mr. Mukherjee said that inflation poses a major challenge to the Indian economy and projected that the rate of inflation is going to be more than 6.5 per cent this year. Observing that India and the US are at the threshold of unlocking the great potential of their bilateral economic relationship, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urged New Delhi to accelerate next generation reform to spur the growth of the Indian economy. Mr. Geithner acknowledged that the most rapidly growing companies in the US are those that benefit from growing exports to India. He said India's economic expansion does not threaten the US and is helping the American economy's recovery.