India’s economy is expected to grow by 8.3 percent this fiscal year, according to the World Bank, making it the second-fastest-growing major economy.
The Bank’s Regional Economic Update for Fall 2021, said that after the “deadly second wave” of Covid-19 in India “the pace of vaccination, which is increasing, will determine economic prospects this year and beyond. It also cautioned, “The trajectory of the pandemic will cloud the outlook in the near-term until herd immunity is achieved.”
According to the report, India’s GDP— which shrank by 7.3 percent under the onslaught of the pandemic last fiscal year — is expected to record an 8.3 percent growth this fiscal year, which will moderate to 7.5 percent next year and 6.5 percent in 2023-24.
It said that growth recovered in the second half of the last fiscal year “driven primarily by investment and supported by ‘unlocking’ of the economy and targeted fiscal, monetary, and regulatory measures. Manufacturing and construction growth recovered steadily.”
Although significantly more lives were lost during the second wave of the epidemic this year in India, compared to the first wave in 2020, “economic disruption was limited since restrictions were localized,” with the GDP growing by 20.1 percent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year compared to the first quarter of 2020-21, the update said.
