India Could Regain Status of World’s Fastest-growing Economy This Year, Says Report

India’s gross domestic product is projected to expand by 12.6 percent during the country’s fiscal year starting in April, according to the forecast released Mar. 9 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (Qamar Sibtain/IANS photo)

LONDON — India’s economy should come roaring back to life in 2021 after a recession induced by COVID-19, and allow the country to reclaim its status as the fastest-growing major economy if the OECD projection of 12.6 percent expansion in GDP is realized, according to a report by CNN Business Mar. 9.

India’s economy plunged into recession for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century. However, it recorded a rise in GDP of 0.4 percent in the final three months of 2020, ending its recession.

For 2020 as a whole, the Indian economy contracted by about 7 percent, the report said. It said India’s gross domestic product is projected to expand by 12.6 percent during the country’s fiscal year starting in April, according to the forecast released Mar. 9 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“If that level of growth is realized, it would allow India to reclaim its status as the fastest-growing major economy – stealing the title back from China, which the OECD expects will deliver growth of 7.8 percent this calendar year after dodging a recession in 2020,” the report said.

The OECD also unveiled major upgrades to its global outlook, saying that “economic prospects have improved markedly in recent months” thanks to the deployment of coronavirus vaccines and additional stimulus announcements.

CNN Business said the Paris-based agency also stated that there were signs that recent containment measures weren’t hurting the economy as much as earlier efforts.

“This may reflect a more careful targeting of public health measures and income support,” the report quoted OECD as stating.

It said OECD now expects the world economy to grow by 5.6 percent in 2021, an improvement of more than one percentage point from its estimate in December.