India Could Regain Status of World’s Fastest-Growing Economy This Year: Report

London: India’s economy should come roaring back to life in 2021 after a recession-induced by COVID-19 and allow the country to reclaim its status as the fastest-growing major economy if the OECD projection of 12.6 per cent expansion in GDP is realised, according to a report by CNN Business on Tuesday.

India’s economy plunged into recession for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century. However, it recorded a rise in GDP of 0.4 per cent in the final three months of 2020, ending its recession. For 2020 as a whole, the Indian economy contracted by about 7 per cent, the report said.

It said India’s gross domestic product is projected to expand by 12.6 per cent during the country’s fiscal year starting in April, according to a forecast released Tuesday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“If that level of growth is realized, it would allow India to reclaim its status as the fastest-growing major economy — stealing the title back from China, which the OECD expects will deliver growth of 7.8 per cent this calendar year after dodging a recession in 2020,” the report said.

The OECD also unveiled major upgrades to its global outlook on Tuesday, saying that “economic prospects have improved markedly in recent months” thanks to the deployment of coronavirus vaccines and additional stimulus announcements.

CNN Business said the Paris-based agency also stated that there were signs that recent containment measures weren’t hurting the economy as much as earlier efforts.

“This may reflect a more careful targeting of public health measures and income support,” the report quoted OECD as stating.

It said OECD now expects the world economy to grow by 5.6 per cent in 2021, an improvement of more than one percentage point from its estimate in December.

Source: LiveMint