Mumbai: Painting a rosy picture of Indian economy, which has posted a phenomenal 8.9 per cent growth in the third quarter of 2003-04, Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh today (Feb 20, 2004) prophesied that the growth tempo would maintain momentum over the next few years.

Riding on the crest of "feel-good" factor, Singh, addressing a public meeting in suburban Ghatkopar, claimed that the growth was not just based on agriculture but it was propelled by impressive performance in industry, services and exports.

Asked about Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani's comment that feel-good factor is yet to reach farmers, Singh said, "I do not want to answer this. I am talking about overall feel-good factor of India."

The Union Finance Minister said the fiscal deficit has shrunk to 4.1 per cent and the disinvestment revenue targets would be met as per the estimates.

Highlighting the achievements on the exports front, Singh said India's exports to neighbouring China have been much more compared to their exports to us, especially in fields like chemicals, steel, pharma and textile.

India's edge in IT sector has become strong and was expected to show much better performance due to forward-looking policies of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government led by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

The foreign exchange reserves of the level of $ 106 billion give us a tremendous strength and "we can conquer the world with the 'transformed mentality' of attaining plenty", Singh said.