IMF increases India's growth projection to 6.8% for 2024

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday raised India's growth projection to 6.8 per cent from its January forecast of 6.5 per cent citing bullish domestic demand conditions and a rising working-age population.

With this, India continues to be the fastest growing economy of the world, ahead of China's growth projection of 4.6 per cent during the same period.

"Growth in India is projected to remain strong at 6.8 per cent in 2024 and 6.5 per cent in 2025, with the robustness reflecting continuing strength in domestic demand and a rising working-age population," said the latest edition of the World Economic Outlook released by the IMF ahead of the annual spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank.

At the same time, growth in emerging and developing Asia is expected to fall from an estimated 5.6 per cent in 2023 to 5.2 per cent in 2024 and 4.9 per cent in 2025, a slight upward revision compared with the January 2024 WEO Update.

IMF in its January update had projected 6.5 per cent growth for India in 2024.

"Growth in China is projected to slow from 5.2 per cent in 2023 to 4.6 per cent in 2024 and 4.1 per cent in 2025, as the positive effects of one-off factors -- including the post pandemic boost to consumption and fiscal stimulus -- ease and weakness in the property sector persists," the IMF said.

The forecast for 2024 is revised up by 0.1 percentage point from the January 2024 WEO Update, the IMF said.

Policymakers should prioritize steps toward greater economic resilience such as strengthening government finances and revitalizing economic growth prospects, said PierreOlivier Gourinchas, chief economist of the IMF.

IMF in its January update had projected 6.5% growth for India in 2024