The Planning Commission said on Tuesday the current upswing in the economy, which is showing signs of overheating, was unlikely to continue in the long term, while attributing pressure on prices to high growth rate.

There are signs of overheating in the economy and the nine per cent economic growth is putting pressure on inflation, Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters after a meeting between a group of ministers and Left party leaders on foreign direct investment limit in insurance sector.

"Inflation has been brought under control as the government has taken several fiscal and monetary measures," he said, adding that the current upswing in the growth rate is unlikely to sustain for all times to come.

Overheating is a reflection of the fact that demand is pushing ahead of capacity in certain sectors and in turn leading to rise in prices, Ahluwalia said.

Asked whether the Planning Commission would review the growth target of 9 per cent, given in the approach paper for the 11th Five Year plan, he said measures to curb surging inflation may put pressure on high growth initially, but on an average the targets would be maintained.

There are upswings and downswings in growth but in the five-year period till 2012, it was still projected to be 9 per cent, he said.

The approach paper, which was approved by the National Development Council in December last year, has set a target of nine per cent average growth rate in the 11th Plan (2007-12) with the terminal year targeted to witness 10 per cent growth.