NEW DELHI: Last week the Central Statistical Office (CSO) forecast that India would close the current fiscal year with a very impressive growth of 7.3%. This is just weeks after RBI surprise everyone by raising its forecast for the current fiscal year from 6.5 to 7%. Even more surprising is that RBI did not change the forecast for inflation. In other words, the central bank is saying that the acceleration in growth will not trigger an inflationary spiral. A forecast by Axis Bank made an even more dramatic claim: India was on a new growth path of 7 percent. All this just three years after the economy witnessed a contraction of 24 percent in the first quarter after covid-19 struck. Indeed, if this is true then India is on a growth turnpike. To examine his hypothesis Neelkanth Mishra, chief economist of Axis Bank.
