World Bank cuts India's growth forecast to 7.5%

Washington, June 7

The World Bank on Tuesday cut India’s economic growth forecast for the current fiscal to 7.5% as rising inflation, supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions taper recovery.

This is the second time that the World Bank has revised its GDP growth forecast for India in the current fiscal 2022-23 (April 2022 to March 2023). In April, it had trimmed the forecast from 8.7% to 8% and now it is projected at 7.5%. The GDP growth compares to an 8.7% expansion in the previous 2021-22 fiscal.

“In India, growth is forecast to edge down to 7.5% in the fiscal year 2022/23, with headwinds from rising inflation, supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical tensions offsetting buoyancy in the recovery of services consumption from the pandemic,” the World Bank said in its latest issue of the Global Economic Prospects.

Growth, it said, will also be supported by fixed investment undertaken by the private sector and by the government, which has introduced incentives and reforms to improve the business climate. This forecast reflects a 1.2 percentage point downward revision of growth from the January projection, the bank added.

“Growth is expected to slow further to 7.1% in 2023-24 back towards its longer-run potential,” it noted.

A rise in prices across all items pushed wholesale inflation to a record high of 15.08% in April and retail inflation to a near eight-year high of 7.79%.— PTI

GLOBAL ECONOMIC PROSPECTS

• This is the second time that the World Bank has revised its GDP growth forecast for India in the current fiscal
• In April, it had trimmed the forecast from 8.7% to 8% and now it is projected at 7.5%
• Last month, Moody’s had trimmed the GDP projection to 8.8% for 2022 from 9.1% earlier, citing high inflation