Monday, September 18 2006 11:59 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Singapore: India yesterday (Sept 17, 2006) said that strong fundamentals have helped the domestic economy to negotiate effectively recent stock market volatility and pressure on prices, enabling the investment boom to continue for the third year in a row.

"We are committed to continuing the process of fiscal consolidation in 2006-07 and thereafter," Finance Minsiter P Chidambaram said at the annual meeting of the World Bank and IMF here, exuding confidence that high economic growth of eight per cent achieved during the last three years would be sustained.

Portraying a rosy picture of the economy for the world community at the meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the Fund-Bank, he said inflationary pressures by and large have been contained in India by appropriate monetary and fiscal policies, ensuring adequate supply of essential commodities.

While committing to fiscal consolidation by meeting the deficit targets, Chidambaram said, "The investment boom is continuing for a third year in a row. Strong fundamentals have helped the economy negotiate effectively the recent stock markets volatility, and underlying investment sentiments in the financial markets continue to remain positive."