Buoyant about the country’s growth, Economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das has said that the India’s pace of economic expansion is likely to exceed the government’s initial projection this year, accelerating to about 8% if the country receives normal levels of seasonal rainfall. He further said that a good forecast for the monsoon and host of other factors is likely to give nation’s economy a boost.
He said that with India’s weather office recently forecasting an above normal monsoon this year, the projection of a higher GDP growth for the country has improved. Das expects that the private sector investment this year to be far better than last year. He added that indicators such as automobile and cement sales showed a strong increase in the first quarter of this calendar year, indicating that economic activity is strengthening.
Furthermore, he said that India’s banks will be in a better position to lend and spur growth after meeting the central bank’s requirements to earmark funds to shield themselves against bad, or nonperforming, loans. He also said that the government has taken measures including infusing capital in the public sector banks and added that the problem of stressed assets which looked very grim last year, now looks to be getting under control.
The government had projected GDP growth to be 7.6% for the last fiscal year, the provisional data for which is due on May 31. For the current financial year, the government has projected growth will be between 7% and 7.75%.