The World Bank on Tuesday forecast India’s GDP growth at 6.3 per cent for FY2023-24 despite global headwinds.
The bank also projected that India’s service sector activity will remain strong with growth at 7.4 per cent, and added that investment growth will remain robust at 8.9 per cent in the current financial year.
The global financial institution in its India Development Update (IDU) wrote, “...despite significant global challenges, India was one of the fastest-growing major economies in FY 2022-23 at 7.2 per cent.
India’s growth rate was the second highest among G20 countries and almost twice the average for emerging market economies.”
However, it went on to say: “Private consumption growth is likely to taper off as post-pandemic pent-up demand fades and high food price inflation constrains demand, particularly for low-income households.”
The Washington-based multilateral lender also pointed out that inflation was likely to spike more than expected at 5.9 per cent in FY24, closer to the upper limit of the RBI’s target of 2-6 per cent.
Sharing sectoral growth projections, the World Bank report said, the agriculture sector is expected to clock a growth of 3.5 per cent, industry 5.7 per cent and services 7.4 per cent during 2023-24. At the same time, investment growth is projected to remain robust at 8.9 per cent.
