Close on the heels of newly-released data indicating that India’s growth rate has bounced back and risen to 6.3 per cent in the second quarter of this fiscal from the previous quarter’s 5.7 per cent, the International Monetary Fund has said it will update its own growth forecast for India next month.
“We will be updating the forecast for India, including the growth rate, and that will be coming in January with the update of our World Economic Outlook,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters on Thursday.
In October, while releasing its World Economic Outlook report, the IMF had lowered India’s 2017 growth forecast to 6.7 per cent, attributing the downgrade by half a per cent from its April and July projections to the “lingering impact” of two major decisions - demonetisation of high-denomination currencies last November and the recent introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Prior to India’s latest figures testifying to the rebound, Moody’s had upgraded the country’s sovereign rating to Baa2, with ‘stable’ outlook, from the earlier Baa3. It attributed the revision to improved growth prospects driven by economic and institutional reforms.