- Wednesday, April 24, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday (22) scaled down India’s economic growth forecast for the 2021 fiscal to 10 per cent from 11 per cent predicted earlier due to the adverse impact of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
In its latest economic outlook, the Philippines-based bank said the growth forecast for India in fiscal 2021 (ending in March 2022) was revised down since the spike in Covid-19 cases during May hit the recovery.
“The outbreak, however, dissipated faster than anticipated, resulting in several states easing lockdown measures and returning to more normal travel patterns. The economy is expected to rebound strongly in the remaining three quarters of FY2021, and grow by 10 per cent in the full fiscal year before moderating to 7.5 per cent in FY2022,” said the Asian Development Outlook Update (ADOU) 2021.
In its Asian Development Outlook forecast in April this year, the multilateral funding agency had predicted India to grow at 11 per cent in the current fiscal year.
“Because consumption will recover only gradually, government spending and exports will contribute more to FY2021’s growth than they did in the previous fiscal year,” it said about India.
About the region, it said the outlook varies across South Asia. The sub-region is projected to expand more slowly this year than earlier projected, but faster next year, it said.
According to ADB, growth in the People’s Republic of China will remain strong, despite a protracted recovery in household consumption.
“The GDP growth forecast remains unchanged at 8.1 per cent in 2021 and 5.5 per cent in 2022, as a solid export performance and higher fiscal support in the second half of 2021 keep growth on track,” it said on China.
