WEB DESK
India’s GDP is poised to grow by 7.3 per cent in the 2018-19 fiscal and 7.5 per cent in 2019-2020 on strengthening of investment and robust private consumption, the IMF said in its latest projection.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in the report published on Tuesday, said the near-term macroeconomic outlook for India is “broadly favourable.”
Growth is forecast to rise to 7.3 per cent in fiscal year 2018/19 and 7.5 per cent in 2019/20 on strengthening investment and robust private consumption, the report said.
Headline inflation is projected to rise to 5.2 per cent in fiscal year 2018/19, as demand conditions tighten, along with the recent depreciation of the rupee and higher oil prices, housing rent allowances and agricultural minimum support prices, it said.
The current account deficit is projected to widen further to 2.6 per cent of the GDP on rising oil prices and strong demand for imports, offset by a slight increase in remittances, the report said. It said that financial sector reforms have been undertaken to address the twin balance sheet problems, as well as to revive bank credit and enhance the efficiency of credit provision by accelerating the cleanup of bank and corporate balance sheets.
“Stability-oriented macro-economic policies and progress on structural reforms continue to bear fruit” in the country, the report said. It said following disruptions related to the November 2016 currency exchange initiative and the July 2017 Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout, growth slowed to 6.7 per cent in fiscal year 2017/18, but a recovery is underway led by an investment pickup.