BENGALURU : India likely recorded strong double-digit economic growth in the last quarter but economists polled by Reuters expected the pace to more than halve this quarter and slow further toward the end of the year as interest rates rise.
The median expectation for 2022 growth was 7.2 per cent, according to an Aug. 22-26 Reuters poll, but economists said that the solid growth rate masks how rapidly the economy was expected to slow in coming months. The economy has not grown fast enough to accommodate some 12 million people joining the labour force each year.
While the central bank's mandated target band is 2 per cent-6 per cent, inflation was expected to average 6.9 per cent and 6.2 per cent this quarter and next, respectively, before falling just below the top end of the range to 5.8 per cent in Q1 2023. That is roughly in line with the central bank's projection.