India’s growth ‘much weaker’ than expected, still much ahead of China: IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its projection for India’s economic growth by 0.3 percentage points to 7 per cent for the fiscal year 2019-20 owing to the “weaker-than-expected outlook” for the domestic demand.

India’s economic growth is “much weaker” than expected, the IMF said on Thursday, attributing the reasons to corporate and environmental regulatory uncertainty and lingering weaknesses in some non-bank financial companies. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July projected a slower growth rate for India in 2019 and 2020, a downward revision of 0.3 per cent for both the years, saying its GDP will now grow respectively at the rate of 7 and 7.2 per cent reflecting a weaker-than expected outlook for domestic demand.

The economic growth slowed to a seven-year low to 5 per cent in April to June quarter from 8 per cent a year ago, as per the government data. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

However, India will still be the fastest growing major economy of the world and much ahead of China, the Washington-based global financial institution had said.

“We will have a fresh set of numbers coming up but the recent economic growth in India is much weaker than expected, mainly due to corporate and environmental regulatory uncertainty and lingering weakness in some non-bank financial companies,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters at a news conference here on Thursday.

The risks to the outlook are tilted to the downside, he added. Responding to a question on the recent GDP figures of India, Rice said the IMF will monitor the economic situation in India. “We will update that assessment in the upcoming world economic outlook,” he said.