Mumbai, Mar 15: Fitch Ratings on Thursday raised its forecast for India’s economic growth to 7 per cent for the next fiscal year starting April 1 on the back of strong domestic demand and sustained level of business and consumer confidence.With a stronger-than-expected 8.4 per cent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) during the third quarter (October-December) of the current fiscal year, Fitch saw the Indian economy expanding 7.8 per cent in 2023-24 financial year (April 2023 to March 2024), marginally higher than the government’s estimate of 7.6 per cent.
In its latest ‘Global Economic Outlook’, the rating agency said the country’s economic growth continued to outperform quarterly forecasts with domestic demand (investment growth increased 10.6 per cent year-on-year while private consumption was 3.5 per cent higher).
For the world, Fitch Ratings has raised its 2024 global GDP growth forecast by 0.3 percentage points to 2.4 per cent, as near-term world growth prospects have improved.
This on back of a sharp upward revision to its US forecast to 2.1 per cent, from 1.2 per cent in the December 2023 Global Economic Outlook (GEO).
“Stronger US growth prospects outweigh a marginal cut to our China 2024 growth forecast — to 4.5 per cent from 4.6 per cent — and a minor revision to our eurozone forecast, to 0.6 per cent from 0.7 per cent,” it said.
“Growth in emerging markets, excluding China, has been revised up by 0.1 percentage point to 3.2 per cent, with forecasts raised for India, Russia and Brazil.”
It expected world growth in 2025 to edge up to 2.5 per cent as the eurozone finally recovers — on a pick-up in real wages and consumption — but as US growth slows.
For India, Fitch Ratings said, “With GDP growth having exceeded 8 per cent for three consecutive quarters, we expect an easing in growth momentum in the final quarter of the current fiscal year, implying an estimate of 7.8 per cent for growth in FY24.”
Recent quarterly data has shown that GDP is rising much faster than gross value-added — indirect taxes net of subsidies is the difference between the two — and this unusually wide gap may normalise.
Strong business survey data for January and February represents an upside risk to these estimates, it said.
“We expect the Indian economy to continue its strong expansion, with real GDP forecast to increase 7 per cent in FY25, a 0.5 percentage point upward revision from our December forecasts,” Fitch Ratings said.