India’s near-8% growth gives Modi a boost as elections end
India will likely report economic growth of close to 8% in the fiscal year that ended in March, providing a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government as elections come to a close.
Official data due to be published Friday will probably show Asia’s third-largest economy grew 7% in the first three months of the year, taking growth for the financial year through March to 7.9%, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.
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The quarterly growth figure will probably be lower than the preceding quarter’s blowout 8.4% expansion, although that data was fueled by one-off factors. Last quarter’s growth rate is still expected to be higher than the government’s prediction of 5.9%.
India’s rapid growth makes it the fastest-expanding major economy in the world, standing in stark contrast with global growth that’s likely to reach about 3% this year. Modi and his officials have pinned the economy’s performance on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s policies, pledging to continue investing in infrastructure and other growth-supporting programs if it returns to office for a third term.
“The Indian economy has exhibited remarkable resilience despite higher-rates-for-longer, Russia-Ukraine war and Covid prior to that,” Kaushik Das, chief economist for India at Deutsche Bank AG, wrote in a note. However, the strong growth rate could also be “attributed materially” to how it has been calculated, he said.
India’s six-week elections comes to end on June 1, with results expected on June 4. The BJP is widely
