Emergence and Persistence of Structural Imbalances:

The period broadly corresponds to the period of the Sixth Plan and the Seventh Plan. The Sixth Plan was launched when the economy was faced with severe BOP difficulties. In 1981, India entered into an arrangement with the IMF for a loan of SDR billion under the Extended Fund Facility. The amount was to be disbursed over a three-year period. India, however, drew only SDR 3.9 billion and the arrangement was terminated in early 1984 at India's request because of the improvement in the BOP position in 1983-84. The deficit on external trade and payments suddenly jumped from the first year of the Seventh Plan and was particularly acute during the last two years of the plan. The CAD more than trebled over the Plan period as a whole, the deficit was as high as 2.2 per cent of the GDP, as compared to 1.3 per cent during the Sixth Plan.