ADB Upbeat On India, Says The Economy Will Double In A Decade

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is bullish on India’s economic growth prospects in the near and long term.

ADB chief economist Yasuyuki Sawada said a 7 per cent growth is amazingly fast. If a 7 per cent growth continues for 10 years, then that economy's size doubles.

The bank has projected India to remain the fastest growing Asian economy with 7.3 per cent growth in this financial year, and 7.6 per cent in the next. The size of India's economy is about $2.5 trillion currently which makes it the sixth largest in the world.

"So that's super fast growing growth rate. And being one of the largest economies in the region, achieving this 7.3 per cent this fiscal and next year, 7.6 per cent, is really amazing," he added.

The Indian economy is forecast to grow at 6.6 per cent in the 2017-18 fiscal ended March 31, slower than 7.1 per cent in 2016-17.

Earlier, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg had said that the country is on track to doubling the size of its economy to $5 trillion by 2025.

When asked whether export revival would be important for driving the economic growth, Sawada said that half of India's growth is driven by private consumption followed by investment and hence domestic market seems to play a major role in growth.

"Export is not a necessary reading for India growth. Rather domestic market seems to be very important...to support growth rate. Of course, export is one part of growth driver, but Indian growth is driven more by domestic market," he said.

Sawada said inequality and poverty reduction would play a "very important role" in achieving higher growth because consumption can stimulate more production and that can absorb more employment.