ADB retains India’s growth forecast at 7%

New Delhi: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday retained India’s growth forecast for the current fiscal at 7 per cent saying better farm output and higher government spending will boost economic activity.

In its Asian Development Outlook (ADO) update of September, the ADB said exports in the current fiscal will be higher than earlier projected, led by larger

services exports. However, merchandise export growth will be relatively muted through the next fiscal.

“GDP growth is expected at 7 per cent in fiscal year 2024 (FY2024, ending 31 March 2025) and 7.2 per cent in FY2025, both as forecast in ADO April 2024,” the ADB said. The Indian economy grew 8.2 per cent in the last fiscal (2023-24). The RBI projects growth to be 7.2 per cent in the current fiscal.

It said while GDP growth slowed to 6.7 per cent in the first quarter (April-June) of FY2024, it is expected to accelerate in the coming

quarters with the improvement in agriculture and a largely robust outlook for industry and services.

“India’ has shown remarkable resilience in the face of global geopolitical challenges,” ADB’s Mio Oka said.