Fitch slashes India's FY23 GDP growth forecast to 7% on slowing global economy, rising interest cost
New Delhi (PTI): Fitch Ratings on Thursday slashed India's GDP growth projection for FY23 to 7 per cent, saying the economy is expected to slow against the backdrop of global economy, elevated inflation and high interest rate.
In June, it had forecast 7.8 per cent growth for India.
“We expect the economy to slow, given the global economic backdrop, elevated inflation and tighter monetary policy. We now expect the economy to grow 7 per cent in the financial year to end-March 2023 (FY23) from 7.8 per cent previously, with FY24 also slowing to 6.7 per cent from 7.4 per cent before,” Fitch said in its September edition of the Global Economic Outlook.
As per official GDP estimates, the Indian economy expanded 13.5 per cent in June quarter, higher than 4.10 per cent growth clocked in January-March.
The RBI expects the economy to grow 7.2 per cent in current fiscal year.
The rating agency said, inflation moderated in August as crude oil prices eased but the risk to food inflation persists, given negative seasonality towards the end of this year.
The wholesale-price based inflation softened to an 11-month low of 12.41 per cent in August, even though retail inflation inched up to 7 per cent.
Fitch said that the RBI has already front-loaded its policy rate hikes, tightening by a total of 140 basis points since the start of 2022 to 5.4 per cent in August.
“We expect the RBI to continue raising, to 5.9 per cent, before year-end. The RBI remains focused on reducing inflation, but said that its decisions would continue to be calibrated, measured and nimble and dependent on the unfolding dynamics of inflation and economic activity. We therefore expect policy rates to peak in the near future and to remain at 6 per cent throughout next year,” Fitch said.
The US-based agency said that it expects the rupee value to remain at 79 against the US dollar by the end of 2022, while the retail inflation is expected to remain at around 6.2 per cent.
It said supply shocks and inflation are hitting the world economy hard and expects the world GDP to grow by 2.4 per cent in 2022, revised down by 0.5 percentage points.
In 2023, the world GDP will grow by just 1.7 per cent, 1 percentage points lower than previous estimates.
“The eurozone and UK are now expected to enter recession later this year and the US is expected to suffer a mild recession in mid-2023,” Fitch said.
Speaking on China, it said the recovery is constrained by the pandemic restrictions and a prolonged property slump, while projecting growth to slow to 2.8 per cent this year and recover to only 4.5 per cent next year.
“We've had something of a perfect storm for the global economy in recent months, with the gas crisis in Europe, a sharp acceleration in interest rate rises, and a deepening property slump in China,” said Brian Coulton, Chief Economist, Fitch Ratings.
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Noida airport to begin ops next month with IndiGo flights to Lucknow, Bengaluru
Noida (PTI): IndiGo on Thursday announced that it will start commercial flight operations from the Noida International Airport in Jewar from June 15, becoming the launch carrier for the greenfield airport in western Uttar Pradesh.
The first day flights will be to and fro Lucknow and Bengaluru, the airline said in a statement.
Noida International Airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 28.
IndiGo said it will be the first carrier to start commercial services from the airport, the third in the National Capital Region (NCR).
According to the airline, inaugural flights on June 15 will operate on the Lucknow-Noida-Bengaluru-Noida-Lucknow sector.
As per the announced schedule, flight 6E 2278 will depart from Lucknow at 7.05 am and arrive in Noida at 8.05 am before departing for Bengaluru at 8.35 am and landing there at 11.05 am.
The return flight, 6E 2279, will leave Bengaluru at 3.45 pm and reach Noida at 6.20 pm before departing for Lucknow at 6.55 pm and arriving there at 8 pm.
IndiGo said it will gradually introduce direct flights connecting Noida International Airport to more than 16 destinations across the country, including metro cities such as Bengaluru and Hyderabad, besides tier-2 and tier-3 cities like Amritsar, Chandigarh, Dharamsala, Jaipur, Lucknow, Navi Mumbai, Pantnagar and Srinagar.
The airline said bookings for the flights are being opened in phases through its website, mobile application and authorised travel partners.
Aloke Singh, Chief Strategy Officer of IndiGo, said the airline was pleased to announce the launch of operations from Noida International Airport.
"Strategically positioned on the Yamuna Expressway, Noida International Airport will be the new gateway for western Uttar Pradesh alongside the NCR. As we continue to expand our operations, we remain committed to delivering affordable, on-time and hassle-free travel experiences," Singh said.
IndiGo said the airport is expected to emerge as a major domestic aviation hub and will strengthen connectivity between Delhi-NCR and western Uttar Pradesh through integrated road and rail infrastructure.
