Indian economy will grow 7.8% in FY16 to lead Asia’s growth as China slows down, before accelerating further to 8.2% in FY17, said Asian Development Bank on Tuesday.
In its Asian Development Outlook, ADB said progress in the government’s structural reform agenda and improved external demand will help the economy expand from 7.4% in FY15. The government’s estimate for FY15 growth is 7.4% and for FY16, it is 8-8.5%.
The ADB projection that India would grow faster than China, comes two weeks after the International Monetary Fund made a similar forecast.
IMF projects India’s economy to grow 7.2% in FY15, lower than the government and ADB’s projection of 7.4%, before accelerating to 7.5% in FY16. The Fund projects China’s growth to slow to 6.8% in 2015 from 7.4% in 2014.
ADB expects the retail inflation to decline to 5% in FY16 and 5.5% in FY17 as global oil prices firm up and improved economic prospects lift demand. A benign inflation outlook would help monetary policy support growth, it added.