India expects 9% growth in 2022 but may obscure Govt’s vision

First change: 07/01/2022 – 21:08Last modified: 07/01/2022 – 21:06

Bombay (AFP) – Following the decline of 7.3% in the previous period, India forecasts revised growth of 9.2% in the financial year 2021-2022, but the outlook for the new wave of corona virus may be cloudy.

Asia’s third-largest economy – after China and Japan – recovered quickly after a second wave of violent outbreaks in 2021, but economists fear the new Omigran variant could affect economic activity.

These are the first full-year growth estimates published by the Statistics Commission of the country and are subject to further revision.

Madan Sapnavis, chief economist at CARE Ratings, told AFP: “Preliminary estimates make it very clear that they do not take Kovit’s impact into account.”

Economists warn that these growth estimates, based on the first ten months of the fiscal year ending in March, will be particularly distorted by the re-emergence of the new Omigron variant in early 2022.

According to the latest estimates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India’s GDP growth will be 9.5% in the current year and 8.5% in 2022-23.

The country’s central bank has also estimated India’s growth at 9.5% for the current year, but “assuming that pollution by Govt does not rise again.”