This de-emphasizing of risks might have been necessitated by a ‘whatever-it-takes’ focus on reviving economic growth. As things stand, despite the assertions on fostering growth, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is unlikely to reach 2019-20 levels anytime soon. RBI has projected a 21.4% GDP growth for the April-June 2021 quarter; assuming that comes true, GDP will still be 6% lower than April-June 2019. And while RBI has scaled down its GDP growth projection for 2021-22 as a full year, from 10.5% to 9.5%, it is sufficient to marginally overtake 2019-20’s GDP, assuming 2021-22 can sustain a 9.5% growth. The overt positivism is also at odds with downgrades by most international institutions: the World Bank’s 2021-22 GDP growth rate estimate for India is 8.3% and the Asian Development Bank’s is 7.5%.

Source: Mint August 15, 2021 16:18 UTC