[00:00.000]This is the Economics Report
[00:02.520]from VOA Learning English.
[00:05.730]India is hoping its economy will improve.
[00:10.620]In the last two years,
[00:12.670]economic growth dropped to its lowest levels in ten years.
[00:17.870]But there are few signs that the economy could return
[00:22.380]to the high growth rates that once made India
[00:26.050]one of the world's fastest growing economies.
[00:30.050]Gurdet Singh grows crops on about 40 hectares
[00:35.040]of fertile land in northern Punjab state,
[00:38.550]the area is financially successful because of farming.
[00:43.600]Mr Singh says, he plans to buy a new and bigger tractor
[00:49.200]to make his work easier.
[00:51.500]Mr Singh is so successful that he hopes to buy a car
[00:56.700]after he pays the loans for his new tractor.
[01:00.340]India's automobile manufacturers have suffered
[01:05.300]severe financial problems during the past two years.
[01:09.650]Industry officials are hoping that people like Mr Singh
[01:14.710]and others in rural areas will begin buying cars again.
[01:19.700]Vishnu Mathur is the head of the Society of
[01:24.000]Automobile Manufactures of India.
[01:26.800]He says there is weak demand in urban areas for passenger cars,
[01:32.800]but he says economic gains in India's rural areas
[01:37.700]could help car makers.
[01:39.810]Good feelings about the car industry may be a sign
[01:44.800]that the worst could be over for the Indian economy.
[01:48.710]Experts believe the economy will grow less than five percent
[01:54.360]when the 2013 fiscal year ends in March,
[01:59.010]but they say the country's agricultural industry
[02:03.160]will show better growth.
[02:04.910]The Indian currency - the rupee lost more than 20 percent of
[02:10.750]its value compared to the dollar last year,
[02:14.000]that should help India's exports which are increasing.
[02:18.250]Rafique Ahmed is the head of the Federation of
[02:23.000]Indian Export Organizations.
[02:26.300]He says exports are growing because the devalued rupee
[02:31.540]and better global economic conditions.
[02:34.940]While growth is widely expected to increase,
[02:39.700]economists say it is unlikely to reach levels seen in 2011
[02:45.640]for example, when growth was nine percent.
[02:49.890]Economists say confidence among investors,
[02:54.940]both in India and in other countries must return
[02:59.400]before the Indian economy can improve.
[03:03.460]Private investment has slowed because investors are concerned
[03:09.700]by the lack of reform in government barriers to business.
[03:16.060]Many investors and businesses are waiting to see
[03:20.560]whom voters would choose to led the country
[03:23.860]in national elections to be held by May.
[03:28.150]Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has said
[03:33.240]growth will increase to more than six percent in 2014.
[03:38.750]And that's the Economics Report.