India’s high growth rate ‘positive news’ for world: IMF

International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva on Wednesday lauded India’s high growth rate, as projected in the latest World Economic Outlook, saying that it is positive news for the world. “India is one of the economies that are growing at a high rate.

Even with the small downgrade, growth is projected for this year to be 8.2 per cent,” said Georgieva, adding, “healthy for India, but also positive in a world where growth slowdown is creating a major problem.”

The managing director of the international financial institution was speaking on the sidelines of the annual spring meeting of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington.

Earlier this week, the IMF projected a “fairly robust” growth of 8.2 per cent for India in 2022. This reportedly made India the fastest-growing major economy in the world. While global growth has been projected at 3.6 per cent in 2022, down from 6.1 per cent in 2021.

On Tuesday, Georgieva held a meeting with India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Washington on the sideline of the summit. During the meeting, both leaders discussed the current geopolitical situation and its economic impact on the economies.

Sitharaman mentioned about India’s accommodative fiscal stance accompanied by major structural reforms and strong monetary policies that have helped in the post-pandemic recovery.

Meanwhile, Georgieva noted India’s well-targeted policy mix that has helped the economy to remain resilient even with limited fiscal space. She also talked about the country’s resilience in remaining the fastest-growing economy across the globe despite challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The senior IMF official also praised India for helping its neighbouring country Sri Lanka as it tackles the worst economic crisis of decades.

She also assured that the IMF would continue to actively engage with the island nation to help mitigate the crisis.