Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh said on Monday that the government was confident of achieving the inflation target of 4.5 per cent for 2003-04 and ruled out any revision.

"We still continue to stand by that figure (4.5 per cent) which both RBI and the ministry of finance has put out. We should and will achieve the inflation target as indicated," he told reporters here after a function, when asked if there is going to be revision as the inflation rate now is 5.68 per cent.

To a question on the slew of initial public offerings hitting the stock markets, Singh said: "Markets are shining. IPOs are a great success, and it will be a great success."

Queried if there was going to be a change in fiscal estimates after the IPOs, Singh said: "Why should they change. We had taken into account the things when sharing the fiscal figures."

Asked if the move on excise duty on steel and release of more sugar into the system meant he left more room for checking the inflation, he said: "It's not just an inflation-checking step that was taken. Steps have been necessitated with steel versus sick industry uptill about eight months back."

Pointing out that several steps have been taken to revive the steel sector as steel is a basic infrastructure industry, Singh said there cannot be "India on the move without the dynamic and growth-oriented steel industry".

Asked if the government would repay any more loans prematurely, he declined to comment, saying he was now bound by the code of conduct following announcement of election dates.

Singh was positive that eight per cent GDP growth would be sustained during the next fiscal year.