WEF survey sees positive growth outlook for India
Says despite sluggish Chinese economy, the South Asia looks promising
New Delhi: Most economists expect the global economy to weaken in the coming year amid political and financial volatility, but a large majority of over 90 per cent are confident of moderate or strong growth in South Asia, notably India, a survey showed on Friday.
At the same time, the outlook for China has dimmed following signs of deflationary pressures and fragility in the country’s real estate market, the World Economic Forum’s latest ‘Chief Economists Outlook’ report said.
As the world grapples with political and financial volatility, almost six in 10 believe the global economic outlook will undermine progress towards meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with 74 per cent saying geopolitical tensions will have the same effect. As world leaders head to New York for the UN high-level week to discuss how to advance on the SDGs, the WEF report found that over 60 per cent of chief economists expect the global economy to weaken in the coming year amid uncertain domestic and international politics and unsettled financial markets.
Although a large majority (86 per cent) expects the recent global inflationary surge to ease, the prolonged tightening of financial conditions is expected to have lasting impacts, including a squeeze on business lending, increases in corporate debt defaults, and potential corrections in property and equity markets.
Developing countries face the most acute effects of these global headwinds, with chief economists warning that progress towards global development goals could be undermined by geo-political tensions (74 per cent) and tighter financial conditions (59 per cent), the WEF said.
