West Asia crisis: '7% GDP growth’; CEA Nageswaran highlights impact of Middle East conflict on India’s growth

Speaking at an event, Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, V. Anantha Nageswaran, said, "... This conflict has come at a time when we were expecting another year of 7% GDP growth. On 27 Feb, together with the Secretary of the Ministry of Statistics, we unveiled the new GDP methodology, base year, and updated numbers, predicting another year of growth above 7%. But many petrochemicals, petroleum products, and crude oil imports are now priced much higher than they were earlier in February or a year ago. Thanks to the management of the Ministry of Petroleum, this remains a price shock rather than a supply shock for India, unlike in some other countries. As we did during COVID and the Russia–Ukraine war, we are managing supply and availability. Prices, however, are internationally determined and beyond our control. The challenge now is how we handle domestic prices in response."