New Delhi:
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said the Union Budget 2009-10 is aimed at minimising the "impact of the global recession" and achieving 8 to 9 per cent growth in the medium term.
Describing the budget as rural-development-oriented, Singh said its focus was to ensure that short-term requirements of the economy as well as medium-term goals were achieved.
"The Finance Minister has done an admirable job," the Prime Minister said minutes after the Union Budget for 2009-10 was presented in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Singh said right now the major concern was to minimize the "impact of global recession" on the Indian economy.
"We should aim to achieve 8-9 per cent growth in medium term," Singh said.
He said handsome additional allocation has been made for inclusive growth and other flagship programmes like Urban Renewal Mission and National Rural Health Mission. "It is essentially a rural development-oriented budget," the Prime Minister added.