S and P revises India’s GDP forecast amid rising infections

“Rising demand and falling infection rates have tempered our expectation of COVID’s hit on the Indian economy. S&P Global Ratings has revised real GDP growth to negative 7.7 per cent for the year ending March 2021, from negative 9 per cent previously,” S&P said in a statement.

The US-based rating agency said its revision in growth forecast reflects a faster-than-expected recovery in the quarter through September. For the next fiscal, it projected India’s growth to rebound to 10 per cent.

India’s gross domestic product fell 7.5 per cent in the July-September quarter, against a contraction of 23.9 per cent in the April-June quarter.

S&P said India is learning to live with the virus, even though the pandemic is far from defeated and reported cases have fallen by more than half from peak levels, to about 40,000 per day. The feared resurgence following the recent holiday season has yet to materialise.