High possibility of 8 pc GDP growth for India in 2023-24: CEA Nageswaran

NEW DELHI: There is a high possibility of India's economic growth touching 8 per cent in 2023-24, government's Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran said on Wednesday.

Speaking at an event here, the CEA said that he expected a 7 per cent GDP growth rate for 2024-25 and it was important to maintain it.

He also said that inflation was expected to remain under control and the country was in a position to pursue a stable "non-inflationary" growth path.

"We don't see, at the moment, scope for nasty upside surprises on inflation. There can always be scenarios in geopolitics that can cause inflation to be more than we expect, but at this point the baseline scenario is that inflation gradually converges to the mid-point of the target range," Nageswaran said.

He was referring to the 4 per cent mid-point target range set by the Monetary Policy Committee before the central bank starts to reduce key interest rates to spur growth.

The inflation rate came down to a five-month low of 4.85 per cent in March. However, the RBI is still focused on controlling inflation before it goes in for a cut in interest rates.

India's GDP growth for 2024-25 is projected at 7 per cent while the forecast for inflation for the year has been retained at 4.5 per cent, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said recently.

The RBI Governor said, "Headline inflation has eased to 5.1 per cent during both January and February, and this has come down to 5.1 per cent in these two months from the earlier peak of 5.7 per cent in the month of December. Looking ahead, robust growth prospects provide the policy space to remain focused on inflation and ensure its descent to the target of 4 per cent."