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Expressing optimism over India’s economic situation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das has said that the growth for 2022-23 is likely to be more than the advance estimate of 7 per cent on the back of economic momentum maintained in the third and fourth quarters of the last fiscal. He said ‘there is a possibility that it could be even more…it will not be a surprise if the GDP growth of last year comes slightly above 7 per cent’. As per the second advance estimate released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in February, the economy is estimated to grow at 7 per cent in 2022-23 against 8.7 per cent in the preceding fiscal. 

He further said ‘In fact, all the high-frequency indicators, around 70 of them, which we monitored in the Reserve Bank of India, almost in all of these high-frequency indicators, the momentum was maintained in the fourth quarter. So therefore, we should not be surprised if the growth is slightly more than 7 per cent’. For the current financial year, he said the RBI has projected a growth rate of 6.5 per cent. 

About the global scenario, he said the coexistence of high inflation and banking stress is complicating the responses of central banks, as they face or trade-off between the risk of either straining financial markets or having to tolerate a longer period of high inflation. He also said ‘amidst these global uncertainties, the Indian banking system remains stable and resilient with strong capital and liquidity positions, improving asset quality better provisioning coverage and improved profitability’.