India, the fastest growing major economy in the world, is estimated to have a GDP growth of 6.7 percent in 2024, much better than other G-20 countries.
New Delhi:
India is currently an attractive destination in the global economy and is moving strongly towards achieving 6.7 per cent economic growth rate next year. A top United Nations economist said that this growth rate is much higher than that of G-20 member countries. Hamid Rashid, head of the Global Economic Monitoring Branch of the Economic Analysis and Policy Section at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, presented the ‘World Economic Situation and Prospects 2023’ report. During this, he said, “I think India is an attractive destination in the global economy at this time.”
It has been said in this report that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate is expected to be 5.8 percent in 2023 amid the impact of high interest rates and economic slowdown on investment and exports worldwide. Rashid said, “The situation is going to be very challenging regarding the economic growth rate in other South Asian countries while India’s economic growth is expected to remain strong.” India, the fastest growing major economy in the world, is expected to grow at 6.7 per cent in 2024, much better than other G-20 countries.
G-20 consists of 19 countries – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK and US – With is the European Union (EU).
He said, “We believe that the condition of the Indian economy will be good with strong demand in the near future.” He also said that this is a reliable and sustainable growth rate for India. Many people live below the poverty line in India. So this level of growth rate is better. If India can maintain this growth rate, it will augur well for the Sustainable Development Goals and for reducing global poverty.
Responding to a question on the Indian economy, Rashid attributed India’s current economic strength to three factors. He said that the unemployment rate in India has come down drastically to 6.4 percent in the last four years. This means that the domestic demand is very strong. Rashid said that the inflationary pressure in India has also come down considerably and it is estimated to be around 5.5 per cent this year and five per cent in 2024.
He said that this means that the country’s central bank will not need to adopt an aggressive stance on the monetary policy front. Rashid said that the third fact that benefits India is that the import bill has been low here. Energy import costs in particular have been low. Even this has improved India’s growth rate prospects in 2022 and 2023.