IMF keeps India’s GDP growth forecast at 7.2% for 2017-’18, predicts faster development than China
In its World Economic Outlook Update for July, it said the 7.1% growth seen in 2016 was higher than anticipated despite the demonetisation drive.
The International Monetary Fund has kept its Gross Domestic Product growth forecast for India unchanged at 7.2% for 2017-’18 and 7.7% for 2018-’19. According to its World Economic Outlook Update released on Monday, the agency said it expects growth in India to pick up further in 2017 and 2018.
“While [economic] activity slowed following the currency exchange initiative, growth for 2016 at 7.1% was higher than anticipated,” the IMF report said, attributing this to strong government spending and data revisions that showed stronger momentum in the first half of 2017.
IMF also forecast that India will continue to grow faster than China, both this financial year and the next. However, it raised China’s GDP growth forecast to 6.7% for 2017 and 6.4% for 2018.
The IMF’s July update further said that inflation in advanced countries was subdued and has been declining in emerging nations such as Brazil, India and Russia.