The Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu expressed confidence that the Indian economy would rebound in the near future saying that the current slowdown was cyclical. Inaugurating the 102nd annual conference of the Indian Economic Association on December 27th, he said it was true that the Indian economy was facing some challenges due to the decline in growth this fiscal. However, he said the country had faced similar slumps in the past in the wake of the East Asian financial crisis and global slowdown but bounced back with a higher growth rate every time.