China must not be happy with this news, icra said India’s GDP growth likely at 8.5 percent in first quarter,

ICRA Estimates

India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate may increase to 8.5 percent in the first (April-June) quarter of the current financial year. ICRA Ratings has made this estimate in a report released on Tuesday. In the previous i.e. January-March quarter, the economic growth rate was 6.1 percent. The rating agency said growth is expected to remain strong on the back of a favorable base effect and improvement in the services sector.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has projected a growth rate of 8.1 per cent for the April-June 2023 quarter. Thus ICRA’s estimate is higher than the central bank’s estimate. ICRA’s Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said that the second half of the current financial year may see adverse conditions. He said erratic rains, narrowing of commodity price differentials from a year ago and a slowdown in the pace of government capital expenditure remain.

He said, “GDP growth rate will be limited as the parliamentary elections approach. ICRA has retained its growth forecast for FY2023-24 at 6 per cent. This is lower than RBI’s estimate of 6.5 per cent. Nair said unseasonal heavy rains in the first quarter, easing of monetary tightening and weak external demand put pressure on GDP growth.