India's GDP to grow at 7.1% in 2018-19: India Ratings

The Indian economy is expected to achieve 7.1 percent growth rate in the next fiscal, according to credit-rating body India Ratings.

The agency claimed improvement in GDP growth from the current 6.5 percent to 7.1 percent will be steered by robust consumer demand and low commodity prices.

The agency, in its outlook for 2018-19, said there will be a gradual pickup in growth momentum, owing to structural reforms like the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

Earlier in the month, the growth in GDP during 2017-18 was estimated at 6.5 percent, as compared to the growth rate of 7.1 percent in 2016-17, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation noted.

However, the World Bank stated that the GDP is expected to grow by 6.7 percent in FY 2017-18 and will pick up to 7.3 percent in 2018-19, and to 7.5 percent a year in the medium term.

In a report titled 'Global Economic Prospects' for 2018, the World Bank noted that the GDP figures of 6.7 percent for FY 2017-18 can be attributed to short-term disruptions arising from the introduction of the GST.