India on track to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2017: Asian Development Bank report

NEW DELHI: India is expected to achieve the projected growth rate of 7.4 per cent in 2017 and further up 7.6 per cent next year on strong consumption demand, with South Asia leading the growth chart in Asia and the Pacific, an ADB supplement report said today.

"India, the sub-region's largest economy, is expected to achieve previous growth projections of 7.4 per cent in 2017 and 7.6 per cent in 2018, primarily from strong consumption," the supplement of Asian Development Bank (ADB) Outlook 2017 said.

According to the report, South Asia will be the fastest growing of all sub-regions in Asia and the Pacific, with growth on track to meet original projections of 7 per cent in 2017 and 7.2 per cent in 2018.

The growth prospects in developing Asia for 2017 have improved on the back of stronger than expected export demand in the first quarter of this year, it said.

In the supplement, ADB has upgraded its growth outlook in the Asian region to 5.9 per cent in 2017 from 5.7 per cent and to 5.8 per cent for 2018 from 5.7 per cent.

The smaller uptick for the next year reflects a cautious view on this sustainability of this export push, it added.

"Developing Asia is off to a good start this year with improved exports pushing growth prospects for the rest of 2017," said Yasuyuki Sawada, ADB's Chief Economist.

"Despite lingering uncertainties surrounding the strength of the global recovery, we feel that the region's economies are well placed to face potential shocks to the outlook," Sawada said.