United Nations (TIP)- India registered “very robust” economic growth performance and has become an alternative investment destination for many Western companies as “less and less” foreign investment is going into China, an expert at the UN said as the global body revised upwards the Indian GDP growth for 2024.
“India is also benefiting from more investments coming into India from other Western sources as less and less foreign investment is going into China. India has become an alternative investment source or destination for many Western companies. I think that is also benefiting India,” Chief of the Global Economic Monitoring Branch, Economic Analysis and Policy Division, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), Hamid Rashid, told reporters here on Thursday, May 16.
He was briefing on the mid-year update of the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2024 that has revised upwards India’s growth projections for 2024, with the country’s economy now forecast to expand by close to 7 per cent this year.
The World Economic Situation and Prospects as of mid-2024, released on Thursday, said, “India’s economy is forecast to expand by 6.9 per cent in 2024 and 6.6 per cent in 2025, mainly driven by strong public investment and resilient private consumption. Although subdued external demand will continue to weigh on merchandise export growth, pharmaceuticals and chemical exports are expected to expand strongly.”
The 6.9 per cent economic growth projections for India in the mid-year update is an upward revision from the 6.2 per cent GDP forecast made by the UN in January this year.
On the Indian economic outlook, Rashid said, “I think the drivers are very simple. Indian inflation has come down significantly. And that means that the fiscal position is not as constrained as in other countries and there is both support on the monetary side and the fiscal side in terms of stimulating growth.”