India grows fastest among major economies but ...

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

India grew at the fastest pace of any major economy in the July-September quarter but economists said disruptions from the emerging Omicron coronavirus variant risked slowing the recovery, especially given its low vaccination rates.

Asia’s third-largest economy has rebounded strongly from last year’s deep pandemic-induced slump, boosted by vaccinations and stronger government spending, economists said.

But new COVID-19 variants, a global slowdown and rising manufacturing prices all pose risks to growth.

Gross domestic product expanded 8.4% in the September quarter from a year earlier, statistics ministry data showed yesterday, in line with 8.4% growth predicted in a Reuters poll and compared with a 20.1% expansion in the previous quarter.

“Data clearly shows that corporate income and profit are above the pre-pandemic level,” K V Subramanian, chief economist at the finance ministry told reporters after the data release.

He said double-digit growth was expected in the current fiscal year, which ends in April 2022, with a growth of 6.5% to 7% predicted for the following fiscal year.

The International Monetary Fund has forecast 2021 economic growth of 9.5% in India compared to a forecast for China of 8%.

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy committee meets on Dec. 6-8.

With households increasingly worried about inflation, policymakers are expected to speed up measures to suck up excess liquidity before normalising interest rates.