India’s economy is expected to grow 6.9 percent in the current fiscal year, the World Bank said in a report on Tuesday, adding that it is well positioned to tackle global headwinds, as opposed to the earlier predicted rate of 6.5 percent. However, expectations for the next fiscal year were trimmed from 7 to 6.6 percent.
“India is more resilient now than it was 10 years ago. All steps taken over the past 10 years are helping India navigate the global headwinds,” World Bank economist Dhruv Sharma said after the global financial body revised its current fiscal year GDP forecast for the country.
“We have no concerns about India’s debt sustainability at this stage,” he said, adding that public debt had declined. “India’s economy has rebounded fairly robustly following the contraction during the pandemic year, and has been driven largely by robust domestic demand,” Sharma added.
The World Bank report said retail inflation has averaged 7.1 percent this year and warned that lower commodity prices could ease inflationary pressures.
The Central government said last week that GDP for the full fiscal year will likely be between 6.8 and 7 percent. Annual retail inflation figures eased to a three-month low of 6.77 percent in October, which is still above the Reserve Bank of India’s upper limit of 6 percent.
