International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday, April 6, released its growth projection for India – to 12.5% for the fiscal year 2022 from 11.5% estimated in January. But, the organization also cautioned that the projection has not factored in the view of the Covid-19 pandemic’s second wave and that the economic overview of Asia’s third-largest economy faces a severe downside risk.
According to the news agency ANI, the IMF mentioned that only the Indian economy maintained a positive growth rate last year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the Indian economy to grow by 12% in 2021, the only major economy to have a positive growth rate last year during the COVID-19 pandemic” International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the Indian economy to grow by 12% in 2021, the only major economy to have a positive growth rate last year during the COVID-19 pandemic: IMF pic.twitter.com/GQ5cnicQzs
— ANI (@ANI) April 6, 2021
Briefing reporters while releasing the biannual World Economic Outlook, IMF economist Gita Gopinath mentioned that the projections for India comes in the background of the evidence to support the normalization of economic activity but these forecasts preceded the current wave of COVID-19 in India, “which is quite concerning,” reported the Hindu.
The current growth projections already take “a fairly conservative view” IMF economist Malhar Nabar said. He continued, “But it’s true that with this very worrying uptick in cases…poses very severe downside risks to the growth outlook for the economy.”
The Asian sub-continent registered more than a lakh coronavirus cases on Sunday, which also surpassed the peak of the first wave of the pandemic, with almost 50% of the cases being reported from Maharashtra.
The government of Maharashtra has imposed partial lockdowns from Monday, shutting down malls, theatres, hotels, restaurants and imposing a statewide night curfew to curb the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, Delhi has relatively followed the same guidelines – similar to Maharashtra since Tuesday. The national capital has imposed a night curfew amid rising Covid cases.
