While the Indian economy was estimated to have grown at 6.7% in 2017, the World Bank has faith that the country’s economy will grow faster than other emerging nations in 2018 – and possibly for the next decade.
According to the World Bank’s 2018 Global Economics Prospect, despite initial setbacks from demonetization and implementation of a Goods and Services Tax (GST), things in India will improve in coming years.
The World Bank has lauded the Modi government’s “comprehensive reforms” and projected the economy will grow by 7.3% in 2018 and 7.5% for the next two years, the Press Trust of India reported.
Meanwhile, China’s growth rate is tipped to slow down in coming years. In 2017, China grew at 6.8%, a 0.1 percentage point more than India, while this year its growth rate is projected at 6.4%. And in the next two years, the country’s growth rate will drop marginally to 6.3 and 6.2%, respectively, the World Bank forecast.
The Bank noted that although India has a favorable demographic profile, it needs to reduce youth employment and boost participation of women in the labour force, which continues to be low compared to other emerging market economies.