8% growth projection for India till 2047 is not ours, says IMF

Indian edtech startup Byju’s breached terms of loans worth $42 million and has been asked by an arbitrator not to sell some shares of a group firm, a confidential order showed, in the latest setback for the firm already battling allegations of mismanagement.

The firm, now valued at around $250 million (valued at $22 billion until 2022), denies wrongdoing.

In the latest dispute, MEMG Family Office, led by Indian billionaire doctor Ranjan Pai, in March initiated arbitration proceedings against Byju’s for allegedly not repaying its loans worth $42 million through a preagreed transfer of certain shares of a group company, Aakash Education.

An arbitrator, appointed under Singapore International Arbitration Centre rules, ordered Byju’s not to sell four million shares of Aakash, which, as per the loan pact amounted to 6% stake last year.

The recent remarks of Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), about India’s growth figures does not represent the views of the IMF and were in his role as India’s representative at the global body, the IMF has said.

“The views conveyed... by Mr. Subramanian were in his role as India’s representative at the IMF,” Julie Kozack, IMF spokesperson, told reporters here on Thursday.

She was responding to a question on recent remarks by Mr. Subramanian projecting a growth rate of 8% for India, which is different from the last growth rate projections by the IMF.

Mr. Subramanian, at an event in New Delhi on March 28, had said the Indian economy could grow at 8% till 2047, if the country redoubles the good policies that it has implemented over the last 10 years and accelerates reforms.

“So, the basic idea is that with the kind of growth that India has registered in the last 10 years, if we can redouble the good policies that we have implemented over the last 10 years and accelerate reforms, then India can grow at 8% from here on till 2047,” he had said.

The IMF spokesperson clarified, “We do have an Executive Board. That Executive Board is made up of executive directors who are representatives of countries or groups of countries, and they make up the Executive Board of the IMF. And that’s distinct, of course, from the work of the IMF staff.”

The IMF would be updating its World Economic Outlook in the next couple of weeks, Ms. Kozack further added.