India growth story was oversold, says former US Secretary of State

India's growth story was oversold, but it has the ability to pull through, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told NDTV on Tuesday.

“India’s growth was maybe oversold to a certain point, and then when it goes through a small period when things shift a little bit, there is undue gloom,” she said in an interview. (Read the full interview here)

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However, according to Albright, this does not mean that India’s growth story is over. “I think that there is going to be a period where the growth is not everything that the Indians expected,” she said, adding that she has great confidence in Indian economy.

“I have great confidence in the Indian economy and in the Indian people and the capability of working through what are some slowdowns in certain areas,” Albright, who is now an international strategic adviser, said.

She also said that a 7 per cent growth is a ‘pretty good record’ in comparison to the growth of most countries.

There have been mounting concerns about the Indian economy that has been besieged with falling industrial output and soaring inflation. India’s GDP growth slowed to 6.5 per cent in fiscal 2012, while gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the march quarter fell to a paltry 5.3 per cent, the lowest in nine years.

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Additionally, the fiscal deficit for the current fiscal has been pegged at 5.1 per cent of GDP, after having climbed to 5.9 per cent in FY-12 from a projected 4.6 per cent. Meanwhile inflation has risen to 7.5 per cent in May. The currency, meanwhile, has fallen 10.92 per cent since the beginning of the current fiscal and hit an all-time  low of 57.33 against the dollar in June 22. 

India Inc has severly criticised government for its lack of reform process. The country's ratings too have become the focus of some concern among ratings agencies and economists. Earlier this month, ratings agency Standard and Poor's cautioned that warned that India could become the first "fallen angel" among the BRIC—Brazil, Russia, India and China—countries if it lost its investment grade rating, citing slowing GDP growth and political roadblocks to economic policymaking as some of the factors that could lead to such an action.

Global banking giant HSBC has termed India as a "gasping elephant" as the slowdown in economic growth was "deepening" and the downside risks to the outlook have increased.