Indian economy to grow 7-7.5% in FY'18: Arvind Panagariya

New Delhi: Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya today expressed hope that the economic growth in the next fiscal year would be in the range of 7-7.5 percent.

"By nature, I am an optimist, so I would remain on the higher side of it. So, if you feel that this range is too wide, personally, I would narrow it down to 7-7.5 percent and maybe on the higher side of it with higher probability," Panagariya told CNBC-TV18.

Niti Aayog vice chairman's statement assumes significance as it comes after the Economic Survey today. The pre-budget document pegged India's economic growth for 2017-18 in the range of 6.75-7.5 percent.

The Economic Survey for 2016-17, tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, today pegged India's economic growth at 6.5 percent for the current fiscal, down from 7.6 percent recorded in the last financial year, but it added that growth is expected to rebound in the range of 6.75-7.5 percent in 2017-18.

The Survey's GDP growth figure for the current fiscal is lower than 7.1 percent the Central Statistics Office had forecast earlier this month.