\n<\/p>\n
Insights from The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and India Development Review<\/p>\n
India\u2019s GDP grew by 8.2% in the fiscal year that ended in March, according to data published Friday, in a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi just hours before polls close in the country\u2019s six-week-long election that he is expected to win.<\/p>\n
The economy expanded at the rate of 7.8% in the final quarter, beating the government\u2019s forecast of 5.9% and setting the stage for India to be the world\u2019s fastest-growing major economy this year. The Managing Director of Operations for the World Bank told CNBC in February that India would need to maintain an annual growth rate of around 8%<\/a> to realize its ambition of becoming a high-income developed nation by 2047.<\/p>\n India\u2019s GDP measurement can mask the weaknesses of its giant informal sector<\/a>, The Wall Street Journal wrote. Private consumption \u2014 the biggest GDP driver \u2014 grew at a slower rate than pre-pandemic levels, while optimism in the economy isn\u2019t resulting in more investment, an economist said. \u201cYou have a booming economy for people higher up on the socioeconomic ladder, but people lower down are really struggling,<\/a>\u201d the director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told the Associated Press. Slow wage growth, high interest rates, and heavy borrowing have weakened more than 300 million families\u2019 spending power<\/a>, which drives 70% of GDP, argued Bloomberg columnist Andy Mukherjee.<\/p>\n The hype over India\u2019s economic prospects ignores a problem that is 75 years in the making: \u201cAnemic job creation<\/a>,\u201d Ashoka Mody, a former International Monetary Fund economist, argued in Project Syndicate. Policymakers have offered only gimmicks in response to this fundamental developmental deficit, he wrote, and should instead offer investments in human capital. India\u2019s jobless growth tends to hurt women in particular<\/a>, who are facing \u201cincreased exploitation, poor working conditions, lack of mobility, and higher risk of violence,\u201d a columnist for the India Development Review said. Creating more productive employment opportunities<\/a> should be a top priority for the next government, The Indian Express wrote in a recent editorial.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSIGNALS<\/h3>\n
Euphoria over India\u2019s growth hides deeper problems<\/h3>\n
India has \u2018anemic job creation\u2019<\/h3>\n