India could outpace China as the world’s fastest growing economy as soon as this year, according to International Monetary Fund director Christine Lagarde.
Lagarde, who was visiting India last week, said the country’s economy is expected to grow 7.5% in the upcoming 2015-2016 fiscal year, which begins in April, up from 7.2% in the current fiscal year.
At that rate, India would be the world’s fastest growing large economy, she added.
Late last year, the IMF had predicted that India’s economy would grow by 6.5% in 2016, faster than China’s predicted 6.3% expansion. Estimates have since been revised for Indian gross domestic product.
However even with the faster pace of growth, India doesn’t come close to China in terms of raw economic power.
China’s economic output totaled more than $10 trillion in 2014, compared with India’s roughly $2 trillion, according to IMF data. Also, predictions don’t necessarily always come true.
Still, Lagarde describe India as a “bright spot” in the outlook for global economic growth.
“The conditions are ripe for India to reap the demographic dividend and become a key engine for global growth,” Lagarde told students at an event organized at a women’s college in New Dehil on March. 16. “It is on the verge of a new chapter, filled with immense promise.”
