Indian economy to advance 7.3% in 2018-19, fastest growing: World Bank
June 6 : India is projected to regain its position as the world's fastest growing major economy advancing 7.3 per cent this fiscal year and 7.5 per cent in the next two "as factors holding back growth in India fade", according to the World Bank forecasts.
The growth projections reflect "robust private consumption and strengthening investment," the bank's Global Economics Prospects report released on Tuesday said.
"India's GDP growth bottomed out in the middle of 2017 after slowing for five consecutive quarters, and has since improved significantly, with momentum carrying over into 2018 on the back of a recovery in investment," the report said.
India has overcome the temporary disruptions caused by the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) by mid-2017, and manufacturing output and industrial production have continued to firm, it added. Per capita growth rates "are strong" and are expected to help bring down poverty in coming years, it said.
The World Bank forecasts are slightly lower than two other projections by international bodies published in April and May.
In May the UN projected a growth rate of 7.5 per cent for 2018 and 7.6 per cent for 2019, while in April the International Monetary Fund forecast 7.4 per cent for 2018 and 7.8 per cent for 2019.
The bank said that in India there has been a further deterioration in trade and current account balances because of accelerating import grown amid strengthening domestic demand and higher energy prices.
The global economic picture painted by the bank is not as rosy as it is for India.
"After reaching 3.1 per cent in both 2017 and 2018, global growth is expected to moderate over the next two years as global slack dissipates, major central banks gradually remove policy accommodation, and the recovery in commodity exporters matures," the report said.
It expected the global growth rate to go down to three per cent in 2019 and 2.9 in 2020.
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EC asks BJP, Cong chiefs to comment on complaints filed by both parties against Modi, Shah, Rahul
New Delhi, Nov 16: In the wake of the BJP approaching the Election Commission (EC) against Rahul Gandhi and the Congress against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for alleged poll code violations, the election panel asked the presidents of the two parties on Saturday to comment on the charges levelled against their leaders.
The EC wrote separate letters to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, asking them to comment on the complaints filed by the other side.
The commission exchanged the complaints between the two parties while seeking their responses.
The EC has sought formal responses from both the party presidents by 1 pm on Monday (November 18), while reminding them of the commission's earlier advisory to them during the Lok Sabha election to keep star campaigners and leaders under check so that public decorum is not flouted and the model code is followed in its letter and spirit during campaigning.
Top leaders of the two parties are campaigning in Jharkhand and Maharashtra for the ongoing Assembly polls in the two states.
During the Lok Sabha election too, the poll authority had exchanged complaints filed by the two parties against the other's star campaigners, including Modi, Shah, Gandhi and Kharge.
According to one of the complaints filed by the Congress, at election rallies in Maharashtra's Nasik and Dhule on November 8, Modi made a series of "false, malicious, and slanderous statements targeting the Indian National Congress (INC) and its allies".
"In his statements, Shri Narendra Modi levelled allegations against prominent leaders of the INC and former prime ministers namely late Jawaharlal Nehru, late Indira Gandhi and late Rajiv Gandhi...," the Congress has told the EC.
It has also accused Shah of making a "slew of false, divisive, malicious and slanderous statements about the Indian National Congress (INC) and its allies" at a poll rally in Jharkhand's Dhanbad on November 12.
"During his speech, Mr Shah alleged that the INC and its allies were against Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBC); promoting terrorism in the country," the Congress has told the poll panel.
The BJP has moved the EC against Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, for alleged poll code violations during a rally in Mumbai.
It has accused Gandhi of making false claims that big international brands are opening manufacturing plants in other states at the cost of Maharashtra.
The saffron party has said Gandhi's remarks were false and "totally unverified to true facts".
It has alleged that the Congress leader "distorted the truth by stating that Apple's iPhones and Boeing's airplanes are being manufactured in other Indian states at the expense of Maharashtra.
"Through his statements, Shri Rahul Gandhi has falsely accused other states of stealing and snatching alleged opportunities from the state of Maharashta," the BJP has told the EC.
"He (Gandhi) has been constantly making false, unsubstantiated, unverified and baseless allegations against the BJP. His nefarious attempt to create a rift between the citizens of India on the basis of place, caste and religion is solely aimed to achieve the electoral gains in the ongoing Assembly elections in the state of Maharashtra," it has alleged.
