India joins top-10 list in FDI inflows FINAL STIMULUS LIKELY IN SEPT-OCT: GURUMURTHY
Inflows up 20% in 2019 to $50.5 billion: UNCTAD
Attracting over $50 billion in 2019, India has moved into the list of top-10 countries in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. Despite Covid-19related downside risks, positive economic growth of the country in a postpandemic period and its large market will continue to attract market-seeking investments, finds a report by UNCTAD.
In 2019, India recorded a 20 per cent growth in FDI inflows to $50.5 billion from $42 billion in 2018. With this, India, which stood at the 12th position in the global rankings of FDI inflows in 2018, moved up to the 9th position. The US tops the list of host economies, followed by China. India beat Germany, Australia and Canada for the 9th slot. Among the top 10 countries, Ireland and Brazil too made substantial gains in 2019, as per a report by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Investment in India helped South Asia's inflows rise 10 per cent to $57 billion, said the World Investment Report 2020 of the UN agency.
According to the report, India's economy could prove the most resilient in the region going ahead. FDI into India has been on a long-term growth trend. However, the magnitude of the logistical challenges during both the lockdown
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and the recovery phase remain a big downside risk for FDI in the medium-term.
The digital economy and real estate and property development, which attracted growing FDI before the pandemic,
could evolve in different directions. While the digital economy is likely to see continued investments, real estate and property development will face significant pressures from slowing demand and financing constraints.
Kolkata, June 16: The Centre is likely to announce the final stimulus package in the "post-Covid era" in September or October, RBI director S. Gurumurthy said. Speaking at a webinar organised by the Bharat Chamber of Commerce, Gurumurthy said the package of more than Rs 20 lakh crore announced by the centre can be described as an interim measure. "The final stimulus package is expected to be announced in the post-covid era, which may be in September or October," the RSS ideologue said.
He said India’s package has used money generated by the economy. "Unlike the European nations and the US, which have been printing money by monetising deficit, there is little scope for India to do that," he said. —PTI
The report said that global FDI flows are forecast to decrease by up to 40 per cent in 2020, from $1.54 trillion in 2019. This would be for the first time since 2005 that global FDI falls below the $1-trillion mark.