New Delhi (TIP): Fitch Ratings on Wednesday, Dec 8,  cut India’s economic growth forecast to 8.4% for the current fiscal ending March 31, 2022, saying the rebound after the second wave of Covid infections has been subdued than expected. Fitch, which had previously forecast a GDP growth of 8.7% in 2021-22 (April 2021 to March 2022), however, raised the economic growth projection for the next financial year (FY23) to 10.3% from previously forecast 10%.

The economy had contracted by 7.3% in the 2020-21 fiscal as restrictions imposed to curb spread of coronavirus pummelled business activity. “India’s economy staged a strong rebound in 3Q21from the Delta variant-induced sharp contraction,” Fitch said in its Global Economic Outlook.

The GDP rose a sharp 11.4% when compared to the preceding April-June quarter when it had slumped 12.4%. “However, the bounce was more subdued than we expected in our September GEO. The rebound in the services sector was weaker than hoped for,” it said. Nevertheless, business surveys and mobility data point to activity growing robustly in 4Q21. Growth in the manufacturing sector is constrained by ongoing supply shortages, but the supply bottlenecks are expected to ease in the coming months.   Source: PTI