New Delhi, Dec 14 (UNI) The Congress-led UPA Government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has performed 'more than satisfactory' in the last three-and-a-half years and its Business Confidence Index is investment-friendly to fair extent, an industry body said.

In a study conducted by industry chamber Assocham, 70 per cent of the CEOs and MDs who participated, rated the government's performance at seven points out of 10 and said it was good in terms of keeping the average GDP growth to around 8.3 per cent.

Exports registered a growth of 18-20 per cent despite rupee appreciation and savings rates grew at over 31 per cent during this period, the study said.

''The CEOs however feel that inflation remained a prime concern for the government which, despite its best effort, stayed at six per cent and caused a great deal of criticism,'' said Assocham President Venugopal N Dhoot said.

Thirty five per cent of the respondents have described the government's performance as average, arguing that neither employment increased substantially nor reforms in labour market were introduced and therefore, the growth rate cannot be termed as 'inclusive'.

Eighty five per cent of the respondents however felt Dr Singh did everything possible ever since he took over as the Prime Minister on almost all front under coercion of coalition politics and particularly in maintaining an excellent foreign policy with equally-balanced approach towards economies of scale and those of developing countries.

Many of the respondents said Dr Singh had handled the nuclear issue with maturity and statesmanship and appreciated the allocation of the UPA government towards education.

The CEOs also appreciated the launch of Bharat Nirman programme that envisages providing infrastructural amenities with the collaboration of private sector and complimented the government for taking the Sensex to all-time high of 20,000.

UNI