A JAB WELL DONE

Since the gradual ' unlocking' has unravelled in June 2020, the country has experienced a 'V'-shaped recovery, the Economic Survey has claimed.

The 'lockdown dividend' owing to the timely imposition of preventive pandemic measures will be reaped in the form of 11 per cent growth in the next fiscal, says the government’s selfappraisal.More important, according to the survey, the current fiscal will sustain the Covid-19 induced economic damage which is estimated to contract the GDP by 7.7 per cent.The prediction of rebounding of pre-pandemic growth is based on IMF projections of 11.5 per cent real GDP growth in 2021-22 and a 6.8 per cent growth in 2022-23. With these numbers, India would bounce back to become the fastest growing economy in the world.

However, the economy will take at least two more years to stabilise at the growth levels achieved in the pre-pandemic period.The recovery has been aided by a stable currency, comfortable current account, burgeoning forex reserves, and encouraging signs in the manufacturing sector output, the document said.