Impact of new strain on India to be contained, says S&P

Global rating agency S&P said the impact of the new coronavirus variant on India's economic outlook would be contained. It expects India's economy to grow 9.5% in FY22 and 7.8% in FY23. "We are seeing a healthy recovery," Andrew Wood, director, sovereign ratings, S&P said in a virtual conference on Tuesday.

He said it was too early to say what the impact would be, but its impact on the economic outlook would be contained.

India has so far seen 22 cases of the new Omicron variant. There are concerns that the variant may be more virulent, and the existing vaccines may not be as effective.


Wood said it was unlikely that large-scale restrictions would be imposed in the country to contain the virus and, therefore, there would be a limited impact. Wood said the central government had been "materially boosting" and improving the quality of the budget.

He said the rating outlook remained stable as the agency expected the economy to recover.