Instant View: India forecasts GDP growth to slow to 7.1 percent in 2016/17

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Indian government said economic growth would slow down to 7.1 percent in the fiscal year ending in March from 7.6 percent a year earlier.

Most private economists have pared India's growth forecast to 6.3-6.4 percent for the 2016/17 fiscal year, citing the impact of the government's scrapping of high-value bank notes last November.

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ANJALI VERMA, ECONOMIST, PHILLIPCAPITAL INDIA

"This is the advanced estimate and we don't know if they are in any way incorporating the demonetisation impact. We have a range of 6.5-7 percent for FY17 and we will stick with that.

"We are expecting that all-in-all growth will stay impacted for the next two-three quarters.

"I think RBI should be following the inflation guidance that they have given and as when inflation is in comfortable zone they should go ahead and reduce rates. Lower lending rates would not means that RBI will stay away from reducing rates further."

(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in MUMBAI and Samantha Kareen Nair in BENGALURU)