New Delhi: India’s GDP growth rate will rise to 7 per cent by 2026 compared to 4.6 per cent for China, S&P Global Ratings said on Tuesday.
In a report titled ‘China Slows India Grows’, S&P said it expects Asia-Pacific’s growth engine to shift from China to South and Southeast Asia.
“We project China’s GDP growth to slow to 4.6 per cent in 2024 (2023: 5.4 per cent), edge up to 4.8 per cent in 2025, and return to 4.6 per cent in 2026. We see India reaching 7.0 per cent in 2026; Vietnam, 6.8 per cent (4.9 per cent); Philippines, 6.4 per cent (5.4 per cent); and Indonesia remaining steady at 5 per cent,” it said. S&P on Monday projected India’s GDP to expand at 6.4 per cent in the current fiscal and in the next. For 2025 it projected growth rate to rise to 6.9 per cent, followed by 7 per cent in 2026.
S&P said, with Asia-Pacific’s central banks likely to keep interest rates high, the region’s borrowers will see costlier debt servicing. “Concurrently, a widening conflict in the Middle East could drag global supply chains and raise energy costs, fanning inflation. High input costs dilute corporate margins, while high prices weaken demand,” it added.