ADB retains India’s growth forecast at 7 percent for fiscal year 2024, calls it region’s fastest growing economy

In its latest development outlook, the Asian Development Bank has kept India’s economic growth forecast unchanged at 7 percent for the fiscal year 2024.

ADB also described India as the region’s fastest growing economy.

“India’s industrial sector is projected to grow robustly, driven by manufacturing and strong demand in construction. Agriculture is expected to rebound amid forecasts for an above-normal monsoon, while investment demand remains strong, led by public investment,” ADB said in a statement.

For Southeast Asia, the growth forecast is maintained at 4.6 percent this year amid solid improvements in both domestic and external demands.

This year’s outlook for the Caucasus and Central Asia is raised to 4.5 percent from a previous projection of 4.3 percent, driven in part by stronger-than-expected growth in Azerbaijan and the Kyrgyz Republic.

In the Pacific, the outlook for 2024 is maintained at 3.3 percent growth, driven by tourism and infrastructure spending, along with revived mining activity in Papua New Guinea.

China

The growth forecast for the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the region’s largest economy, is maintained at 4.8 percent this year.

“A continued recovery in services consumption and stronger-than-expected exports and industrial activity are supporting the expansion, even as the PRC’s struggling property sector has yet to stabilize,” read a statement issued by the ADB.

The government introduced additional policy measures in May to support the property market.

ADB raised its economic growth forecast for developing Asia and the Pacific this year to 5.0 percent from a previous projection of 4.9 percent, as rising regional exports complement resilient domestic demand.

The growth outlook for next year is maintained at 4.9 percent.

“Most of Asia and the Pacific is seeing faster economic growth compared with the second half of last year,” said ADB Chief Economist Albert Park. “The region’s fundamentals remain strong, but policy makers still need to pay attention to a number of risks that could affect the outlook, from uncertainty related to election outcomes in major economies to interest rate decisions and geopolitical tensions.”