India's 2022-23 GDP growth may breach estimated 7 pc: RBI Governor

NEW DELHI: Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said the growth for 2022-23 is expected to be more than the advance estimate of 7 per cent on the back of economic momentum maintained in the third and fourth quarters of the last fiscal.

As per the second advance estimate released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in February, the economy is estimated to grow at 7 per cent in 2022-23 against 8.7 per cent in the preceding fiscal.

“There is a possibility that it could be even more...it will not be a surprise if the GDP growth of last year comes slightly above 7 per cent,” he said at a CII event here. Provisional Annual Estimates for the year 2022-23 will be released on May 31, 2023.

“It initially appeared in the third quarter that there was a pent-up demand which was supporting the economic activity, but all the economic indicators in the fourth quarter of last financial year show that economic activities sustained momentum.

“In fact, all the high-frequency indicators, around 70 of them, which we monitored in the Reserve Bank of India, almost in all of these high-frequency indicators, the momentum was maintained in the fourth quarter. So therefore, we should not be surprised if the growth is slightly more than 7 per cent,” he said.

For the current financial year, he said the RBI has projected a growth rate of 6.5 per cent.

About the global scenario, he said the coexistence of high inflation and banking stress is complicating the responses of central banks, as they face or trade-off between the risk of either straining financial markets or having to tolerate a longer period of high inflation.

“Amidst these global uncertainties, the Indian banking system remains stable and resilient with strong capital and liquidity positions, improving asset quality better provisioning coverage and improved profitability,” he said.

Das said the decision to tweak policy rates was not in his hand as he himself is driven by the situation on the ground.

In April, the Reserve Bank in a surprise move hit the pause button and decided to keep the key benchmark policy rate at 6.5 per cent. Prior to it, the RBI was on a rate hiking spree, raising the repo rate by 250 basis points since May 2022.

Speaking at an event organised by the industry chamber CII, Das said there is a suggestion that RBI will take a pause in the coming monetary policy meetings.

“It’s not in my hands. It all depends on the situation on the ground. I am driven by what’s happening on the ground. What is the outlook on the ground? What are the trends? How is the inflation buildup or the inflation softening? So, it’s all there.

“So, it’s not a decision which is entirely in my hands, because I am driven by what’s happening at the ground level. So, to that extent, you know, I think, I will leave it at that,” the governor said.

The last decision to hold rates should be seen as a pause, and not as a pivot, he said.

Citing an example, Das said Canada, after pausing, increased rates to deal with inflation. On global growth, he said the global economy is mired by geopolitical uncertainty, elevated inflation, volatile financial markets -- including banking sector stress - food insecurity and debt distress, among others.

On the upside, there has been a slow upturn in global growth, easing of supply chains, moderation of inflation, normalisation of financial markets and reopening of Chinese markets, which have all improved sentiments, but the uncertainty continues, he said.

Amid global churn, the Indian economy has shown resilience and has created requisite buffers to meet geopolitical and domestic challenges.

He assured that the country has sufficient forex reserves and the central bank has maintained the exchange rate of the rupee.

With regard to the internationalisation of the rupee, he said, the RBI has allowed international trade settlement in the rupee in 18 countries. As many as 17 banks including Sberbank, Gazprom and VTB Bank, have opened 30 special vostro accounts.

He also informed the gathering that the RBI is fine-tuning the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) architecture based on the experience so far.