Ficci issued a report today showing that GDP growth of India is projected at 7.1 percent for the first quarter of the previous fiscal years while 6.6 percent for the year of 2017 to 2018. The GDP figures for Q4 and 2017-18 fiscal are scheduled to be published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on May 31. Moreover, the GDP for the third quarter (October-December 2017-18) came at 7.2 percent while the last fiscal (2017-18) is expected to show growth of 6.6 percent at unchanged prices, based on CSO stats. According to economists’ opinion, Ficci's Economic Outlook Survey predicts that the annual economic growth for 2018-19 will gain 7.4 percent, showing minimum and maximum of 6.9 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively. The organization’s poll further presents few visible concerns on the external front alongside the forecast for the median current account deficit fixed at 2.1 percent of 2018-19 GDP. The emergence of oil price increase became the main risk factor which can heavily influence India’s overall growth outlook and external position. The Indian rupee continues to weaken which further negatively affect imports. In addition to it, economists mentioned their perspective towards the increasing protectionist policies by some major economies along with its potential effect on India. The industry body, Ficci told that experts collectively thought that the inciting trade war would indirectly hit India since the country is integrated with the world economy. Also, economists assumed that protectionist measures could soften the multilateral trading system driven by WTO guidelines.
