South Asia Economic Focus

India is projected to grow at 8% over the current fiscal year (April 1- March 31), and 7.1% over the next (2023-24) fiscal year, the World Bank said in its bi-annual South Asia Economic Focus Reshaping Norms: A New Way Forward, released recently.

Details –

• The country is estimated to have grown at 8.3% in the fiscal year that just passed, following a contraction of 6.6% in the previous year owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• For the South Asia region, growth is expected to be slower than projected, by 1 percentage point, at 6.6% in 2022 and 6.3% next calendar year.
• This is due to Russia’s war on Ukraine, which has impacted the region, when it was already experiencing “fragile” growth, rising commodity prices, bottlenecks to supply and financial sector vulnerabilities.

About the report –

• The South Asia Economic Focus is a biannual economic update presenting recent economic developments and a near-term economic outlook for South Asia.
• It includes a Focus section presenting more in-depth analysis of an economic topic of relevance for stability, growth, and prosperity in the region as well as country briefs covering Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
• It concludes with a data section providing key economic indicators for South Asia “at a glance.”
• Overall, it aims at providing important background information and timely analysis of key indicators and economic and financial developments of relevance to World Bank Group operations and interaction with counterparts in the region, particularly during annual and spring meeting.
• This biannual series is prepared by the Office of the Chief Economist for the South Asia region.