‘Economy resilient despite US tariffs, fiscal tightening’

India’s economy remains resilient despite fiscal consolidation, slowing credit growth, and US trade frictions, said Neelkanth Mishra, chief economist at Axis Bank and a member of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council.

- Rhik Kundu

The Centre has reduced its fiscal deficit substantially over the past few years—by 80 basis points (bps) in FY24, 80 bps in FY25, and another 40 bps in the current year’sbudget, said Mishra, who is alsothe head of global research at Axis Capital.

Onthe monetary side, however, credit growth slowed sharply from 16.3% in March 2024 to about 9.8% in May 2025, Mishra said in an interview. “Given that bank credit equals about 56% of gross domestic product (GDP), this slowdown shaved off around 2-3 percentage point growth,” he said. “A signifi-