Indian Economy To Grow 7.8 Per Cent In 2022-23, Says Central Bank

NEW DELHI, Feb 10 (Bernama) -- The Indian economy is expected to grow 7.8 per cent in 2022-23 fiscal year and requires continued monetary policy support to overcome the ill effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the country's central bank said on Thursday. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said private consumption, the mainstay of domestic demand, continues to trail its pre-pandemic level. "The persistent increase in international commodity prices, surge in volatility of global financial markets and global supply bottlenecks can exacerbate risks to the outlook," RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said in a statement. The central bank’s growth forecast for the April 2022-March 2023 fiscal year is lower than the 8-8.5 per cent growth projected in the government’s annual economic survey presented last month. The RBI kept its key interest rates unchanged and argued in favour of an easy monetary policy to boost growth. Its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) left the lending rate, or the repo rate, unchanged at 4 per cent, and the borrowing rate, or the reverse repo rate, untouched at 3.35 per cent. While India is battling its third COVID-19 wave, its economic recovery is supported by large-scale vaccination and sustained fiscal and monetary support, the RBI said. It noted that the rise in consumer price inflation since the MPC’s last meeting in December was along anticipated lines. The RBI retained its inflation projection for the current fiscal year 2021-22 at 5.3 per cent. GDP growth in 2021-22 is expected to be 9.2 per cent. -- BERNAMA