First it was the global economic slowdown and now it seems there's the double whammy of the delayed monsoon that may cause havoc to the country's economic health in the near future.

The new members of the planning commission, who set growth targets for the country, met on Wednesday for the first time, to take stock of the situation.

It is almost official now, the country's economy is not in pink of its health with the once roaring economy now seen crawling to achieve a growth of 7 to 8 per cent in the remaining two and half years of the eleventh plan.

The planning commission will now review the mid term progress of this eleventh plan with clear concerns over the widening fiscal deficit and slowing growth. 

Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of Planning Commission, said, “Some mid way corrections will be made. These would be reflected in the Budget. We will be beginning work on the mid term appraisal and finish it before the next Budget."

As far as the current fiscal is concerned, the Commission is hopeful that the economy will clock a growth of around 7 per cent. The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council puts the growth this fiscal at 6.5-7 per cent, while the RBI hopes the growth will be 6 per cent. The International Monetary Fund has pegged it even lower at 4.5 per cent for 2009-10.

All the stimulus packages, monetary and fiscal interventions and tax cuts seem to have had a limited impact on the country's economy, forcing the government to review the growth target.

The economists fear that sluggish growth could continue till the beginning of the twelfth plan, that is, 2012.