Fitch Hikes India's GDP Forecast To 6.3% For Current Fiscal

New Delhi: Fitch Ratings on Thursday upgraded its forecast for India's GDP growth to 6.3 per cent for the current fiscal, up from 6 per cent it had predicted earlier. The growth forecast has been upgraded on the basis of stronger momentum in the first quarter of the current fiscal.

"India's economy has been showing broad-based strength - with GDP up by 6.1 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023-24 and auto sales, PMI surveys and credit growth remaining robust in recent months - and we have raised our forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2024 (2023-24) by 0.3 percentage points to 6.3 per cent," Fitch said in a statement.

In March, the rating agency had lowered its forecast for 2023-24 to 6 per cent from 6.2 per cent owing to headwinds from elevated inflation and interest rates along with subdued global demand. For 2024-25 and 2025-26, the agency has forecast a growth of 6.5 per cent each.

Fitch further said that GDP growth in January-March was higher than expected, saying there has been a recovery in manufacturing after two consecutive quarterly contractions, a boost from construction, and an increase in farm output.