Basel (Switzerland): India's foreign exchange market is "stable and orderly" and the country is confident of achieving 5-5.5 per cent growth in economy, Reserve Bank Governor Bimal Jalan has said.

India's exchange markets have been broadly stable and orderly, and GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth is likely to be in the region of five to 5.5 per cent despite this year's drought, Jalan said addressing Central Bank Governors of Africa at a meeting organised by Bank for International Settlement (BIS) in Basel.

He, however, cautioned that there was a need for "pragmatic and realistic" macro-economic policies in order to safeguard balance of payments in emerging markets including India.

"The primary responsibility of crisis prevention has to be that of the country itself and emerging markets nations in particular need to adopt policies, which prevent an external crisis from arising," Jalan said.

The RBI Governor was invited here by the BIS to speak to heads of 14 African nations on the "Indian Experience", which has been successful in maintaining financial stability during turbulent times in many emerging economies of the world.

"Unlike the past, India has been able to prevent external crisis by adoption of sound external management policies," Jalan said, adding that the country had nearly tripled its foreign exchange reserves in the past three to four years to $ 67 billion and has kept inflation rate low.

Outlining certain crucial policy priorities, Jalan told the African Governors that a stable macro-economic environment with low inflation, low current account deficit and reasonable growth was essential to prevent crisis.

PTI