ADB expects India GDP to slip to 4 pc in 2020-21; projects strong recovery next fiscal

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday said that India's economic growth rate will slip to 4 per cent in the current fiscal on account of the global health emergency created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the same time, the multilateral lending agency in its flagship publication Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020 said that India will stage a strong recovery in the next financial year on back of its sound macroeconomic fundamentals.

India's economic growth for 2019-20 has been estimated at 5 per cent by the National Statistics Office (NSO).

The Manila-headquartered agency said the growth rate of Indian economy is expected to be slow on weak global environment amid continued efforts to contain the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the country.

The deadly disease has claimed over 50,000 lives across the globe, the maximum number of which has been reported from some countries in the European region and the US. The total number of infected people has crossed over 1 million (10 lakh).

In India, more than 50 lives have been lost, as per the latest data, and number of infected people stands over 2,000.

"We face extraordinarily challenging times. The outbreak of COVID-19 is disrupting people's lives and interrupting business and other economic activities around the world," said Masatsugu Asakawa, President of Asian Development Bank.

Speaking on India, ADB Chief Economist Yasuyuki Sawada said, The COVID-19 pandemic jeopardizes global growth and India's recovery. But India's macroeconomic fundamentals remain sound, and we expect the economy to recover strongly in the next fiscal year."