IMF meets Finance Min officials to review economic situation

NEW DELHI: Ahead of its world economic growth outlook, representatives of International Monetary Fund (IMF) met senior Finance Ministry officials to discuss the macroeconomic situation of India.

IMF representatives held consultations with the Finance Ministry and the meeting was chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram, an official source said.

"We discussed fiscal deficit, current account deficit and investments among other things. They will wait for second quarter GDP numbers before finalising their update to the World Economic Outlook," the official said.

IMF is scheduled to unveil WEO in January. It holds bilateral discussions, known as Article IV consultations, with member countries twice a year to review their economic status.

The second quarter GDP numbers are scheduled to be released tomorrow. During the first quarter, Indian economy grew by 4.4 per cent, lowest in four years.

Besides Finance Ministry officials, IMF representatives also met key officials of the Reserve Bank as well as private sector players.

Indian economy expanded by 5 per cent in the 2012-13 fiscal, the lowest level in a decade.

For the current fiscal, Reserve Bank expects GDP to grow by 5 per cent, while the government expects the growth to be between 5 per cent and 5.5 per cent.

Both IMF and the World Bank had lowered the growth forecast for India last month.

IMF projected an average growth rate of about 3.75 per cent at market price in 2013-14. Besides, the World Bank slashed India's economic growth forecast for the current financial year to 4.7 per cent, from earlier projection of 6.1 per cent.