- Some Cubans depend on sugar water as food shortages bite
- Saudi crown prince says no Israel ties without Palestinian state
- Canada to further cut international student, foreign worker permits
- YouTube launches new TV-focused tools for creators
- White Sox heading for worst season in MLB history
- China the top challenge in US history: senior diplomat
- Hong Kong democracy tycoon's son warns time running out
- New migraine drugs no better than cheap painkillers: big study
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs again denied bail in sex trafficking case
- Brewers clinch division title as MLB playoff race heats up
- Man City blunted by 'giant' Inter in Champions League stalemate
- US stocks dip despite larger Fed interest rate cut
- Man City held by Inter as PSG pinch win in Champions League
- All Blacks recall Beauden Barrett for Australia Test
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 20, wound 450
- Spurs late show saves Postecoglou blushes at Coventry
- PSG snatch late goal to beat Champions League debutants Girona
- Gittens' late double gives Dortmund Champions League win at Brugge
- Man City blunted by Inter in Champions League stalemate
- Hidden talent: French Olympic star Marchand opts for disguise
- MrBeast named in California lawsuit over 'Beast Games' show
- Gauff splits with Gilbert as coach after 14-month run
- Hundreds of thousands at risk in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN
- Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge
- Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
- Ukraine official claims Russian advance in Kursk has been 'stopped'
- X update allows app to bypass Brazil ban: internet providers
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 14, wound 450
- US Fed makes aggressive rate cut, weeks before election
- Arsenal's Odegaard faces lengthy injury absence
- India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: report
- China the top challenge in US history, top diplomat says
- US Fed makes larger half-point cut in first reduction since 2020
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr appoint former AC Milan boss Pioli
- Ainslie 'relieved' as British book place in Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Struggling Roma replace sacked icon De Rossi with Ivan Juric
- Women's NBA will add 15th team in Portland in 2026
- Brazil fires need harsher punishment: environmental police boss
- Boeing to start large temporary furloughs amid Seattle strike
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill nine, wound 300
- 'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers
- McIlroy outlines threats to golf peace deal
- Stock markets, dollar slip before US rate decision
- Russian advance in Kursk 'stopped': Ukraine official to AFP
- UN members demand end to 'unlawful' Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
- Snapchat pushes 'safer' platform image, but not everyone agrees
- Three dead, 100 wounded in new wave of Lebanon device explosions
- So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from?
- Allied war heroes buried in Netherlands... 80 years on
- Marsh coy over Australia's choice to open alongside Head
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.02% | 25.055 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.37% | 6.55 | $ | |
RELX | -0.82% | 47.37 | $ | |
GSK | -0.31% | 42.43 | $ | |
NGG | -0.46% | 70.05 | $ | |
SCS | 0.71% | 14.11 | $ | |
BCC | 1.33% | 137.06 | $ | |
RIO | -0.02% | 62.91 | $ | |
JRI | 0.45% | 13.44 | $ | |
AZN | 0.06% | 78.58 | $ | |
BTI | -0.34% | 37.88 | $ | |
VOD | 0.49% | 10.23 | $ | |
BCE | 3.09% | 35.61 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.98 | $ | |
BP | -0.37% | 32.43 | $ |
India forecasts world-beating growth on Covid recovery
India expects to lead the world in economic growth this year in a post-pandemic bounceback, government forecasts showed Monday, but with expansion slowing despite widespread vaccine coverage and recovering exports.
Covid pummelled Asia's third-largest economy, which suffered its worst recession since independence in 1947 after a drastic lockdown brought factories and consumer spending to a standstill.
Last year saw the economy bounce back to pre-pandemic levels despite a devastating virus outbreak that overwhelmed hospitals, with 9.2 percent growth estimated for the 12 months to March 2022.
But with the recovery now tapering, India expects slower growth of 8.0-8.5 percent for the following financial year, according to the annual economic survey presented to parliament on Monday.
"The economy is in a good place to grow strongly into the next year or two and all the macro stability indicators suggest that there is a fair amount of buffer," said Sanjeev Sanyal, the finance ministry's principal economic advisor.
The report puts India well ahead of the International Monetary Fund's 2022 calendar year forecasts for other major economies, with neighbouring China expected to grow 4.8 percent in the year to December.
The IMF last week slashed its global growth outlook in the wake of the Omicron variant's impact, but still forecast 9 percent growth for India in 2022.
Widespread Covid vaccinations, robust exports and rises in both private investment and public spending will maintain strong growth for the year ahead, India's survey said, provided there was "no further debilitating pandemic related economic disruption".
But analysts warn the government's growth forecast may be "too optimistic", in light of elevated inflation, unemployment and other headwinds.
"They've made certain assumptions. They've said there is no fourth wave, that crude oil prices will remain at $70-75. All this can be debated," Bank of Baroda chief economist Madan Sabnavis told AFP.
Monday's survey comes a day before India's next budget is presented to parliament.
The Mumbai stock exchange closed up 1.42 percent after the forecast was announced.
G.Schulte--BTB