India to buck global slowdown, maintain pace of expansion: RBI officials
The Hindu
India to buck global slowdown, say RBI officials
Even as the global economy is set to slow down or even enter a recession in 2023 as financial markets worldwide face heightened uncertainty, the Indian economy is steadily gathering momentum, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials headed by deputy governor Michael D. Patra wrote in an article in the March RBI Bulletin.
India had emerged from the pandemic years stronger than initially thought, they asserted.
“Unlike the global economy, India would not slow down – it would maintain the pace of expansion achieved in 2022-23,” the officials wrote, adding: “We remain optimistic about India, whatever the odds”.
The officials observed that the National Statistical Office’s (NSO) end-February data release indicated that the Indian economy was intrinsically better positioned than many parts of the world to head into a challenging year ahead, mainly because of its demonstrated resilience and its reliance on domestic drivers.
On the supply side, agriculture was into a seasonal uptick, they wrote, with industry also emerging out of a contraction and services having maintained momentum.
However, they did flag price stability as a concern including the persistent stickiness in core inflation.
“Consumer price inflation remains high and core inflation continues to defy the distinct softening of input costs,” they noted.
The decline in India’s net foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, which have dropped almost 31% to $25.5 billion over the first ten months of 2023-24, is in line with the slowdown in such investments to developing countries, the Finance Ministry has said, while holding out hope for an uptick in investments this year.