Pushing for Growth

While the global outlook for 2023 remains bleak, India may emerge as a beacon of growth and recovery

- ASHISH SINHA

T HE International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts global growth will slow down to 2.7 per cent in 2023. In a recent report it stated,"The worst is yet to come, and for many people 2023 will feel like a recession." For India, this may not be the case. In a recent visit to India, the Deputy Managing Director of IMF, Gita Gopinath said, "India is doing relatively well and it has had a few quarters of 4-6 per cent growth. That helps in terms of closing the gap from the sharp contraction that happened in 2020," she said. "Given the tough landscape, India is performing relatively well," Gopinath added.

Experts are divided on their prediction for India's GDP growth in 2023 with some rating agencies announcing a 6 per cent growth rate or even less. The point that Gopinath is highlighting is in the global context. Many countries in Europe, Asia and North America are expected to see stagnated growth.

Compare them to India, and we have a relatively shiny picture even if the rate of growth remains at 6 per cent or less.

The Indian economy needs to spend more. That is why the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has also indicated that India will continue to push the growth agenda on the back of increased public spending like before. "The upcoming Budget will follow the spirit of the earlier budgets. We are going to set the template, which was set earlier but follow it and take it further for India's next 25 years," Sitharaman said on an industry platform. The finance minister will be presenting her fifth straight Budget on February 1 for the fiscal starting April 2023. In her last Budget, the finance minister had raised

A RISING ECONOMY

World Bank revises 202223 GDP forecast upward to 6.9 per cent from 6.5 per cent

Total tax collection expected at Rs 31.50 lakh crore in FY23

Overall exports (AprilNov'22) estimated at 17.7 per cent growth over the same period last year