India continues to remain a relative "bright spot" in the world economy, and will alone contribute 15% of the global growth in 2023, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said.

Georgieva described India's strong economic performance as a “bright spot,” adding that, in addition to being the global growth engine, India is uniquely positioned to bring countries together.

“At a time of heightened uncertainties for the global economy, India's strong performance remains a bright spot. It's therefore fitting that the Group of Twenty finance ministers and central bank governors will meet this week in Bengaluru,” she said.

Wednesday marked the start of the Second Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting under India's G20 Presidency. G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs will attend the meeting on Friday.

While digitisation pulled out the world's fifth-largest economy from pandemic lows, prudent fiscal policy and significant financing for capital investments provided in the next year's Budget will help sustain the growth momentum.

"India's performance has been quite impressive. For this year, we expect India to retain a high growth rate, 6.8% for the year that ends in March. For FY 2023/24 (April 2023 to March 2024) we project 6.1%, a bit of slow down like the rest of the world economy, but way above the global average. And in that way, India is providing about 15% of global growth in 2023," Ms. Georgieva told PTI in an interview.

That is the fastest growth rate among major economies

Responding to a question, Ms. Georgieva said she was impressed by two things in the latest annual Budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman. "Overall, a very, very thoughtful work done by the Minister of Finance." "The first one is how much care is placed on balancing development needs with fiscal responsibility in India. So, you have a Budget, that is realistic on the revenue side with a focus on growth-supporting spending. And secondly, the investment in capital expenditures, that is there to provide the long-term foundation for growth," she said.

"I particularly noticed, how much attention India is paying on investing in the green economy, including renewables with potential to shift the country towards clean energy and keep growth going. What we see as potential for the future is to translate this fiscal responsibility into a medium-term framework that gives even stronger anchor to India's public finances," Georgieva said.

Speaking about the G-20 meet, she added, "And of course, India's G-20 presidency provides an opportunity for India to share this experience, more broadly, especially with the developing world, so other countries can leapfrog the way India, did it with this thoughtful approach to digitalization."

Image source: AP