World Bank’s Gloomy Recession Projections Still Hold Indian Economy At Resilience

Amid the geopolitical tension, the Indian economy stands resilient and likely to expand at the growth rate of 6.6 per cent in the fiscal year 2023-24 according to the World Bank, despite its gloomy projection about the recession threats for the world economy.

The international bank warned, led by the weaker growth of top economies, the US, Europe and China, the world economy is likely to bring recession this year, according to a report released on Monday.

The World Bank, however in its 'Global Economic Prospects' report claimed a resilient outlook in the South Asian region with India facing limited spillovers from the worldwide slowdown.

The report noted that as India accounts for three-fourths of the South Asian region, its expanded output growth is 9.7 per cent on an annual basis in the first half of the fiscal year 2022-23. Thus, reflecting the nation’s private consumption and fixed investment growth.

It further stated India is likely to be the fastest-growing economy among the seven largest EMDEs (emerging market and developing economies).

It also highlighted India's consumer inflation last year which was above the Reserve Bank of India’s upper tolerance limit of 6 per cent leading to the rise in policy rates by 2.25 per cent points over the period between May and December.

Meanwhile, on a positive note, it added, India’s goods trade deficit that doubled more than expected, since 2019 and was USD 24 billion in November with USD 7.6 billion deficits for crude petroleum and petroleum products and USD 4.2 billion for other commodities like ores and minerals, accounting for the expansion.