India is set to regain its position as the world’s fastest-growing major economy this year, but any euphoria is likely to be tempered by concerns over a resurgent coronavirus outbreak.
Gross domestic product will grow 9.2 per cent in the fiscal year ending March 2022, the first official estimate released by the Statistics Ministry on Friday shows. That is slightly slower than the 9.5 per cent expansion forecast by the Reserve Bank of India as well as economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
With one quarter still left in the fiscal year and parts of the economy already facing fresh curbs to stem the Omicron variant, the estimate is likely to undergo revisions.
The uncertainty spawned by the pandemic has so far kept fiscal and monetary policies accommodative to aid a durable recovery, even as global peers have begun dialling back stimulus measures to combat inflation.
A sustained pace of growth is key to attracting investors to India, which is in the middle of a massive privatisation drive, besides boosting manufacturing and creating jobs.
“We do have pockets of revenge demand coming in spurts but consumption still needs some hand-holding,” said Shubhada Rao, founder of QuantEco Research in Mumbai, who reckons that the impact of India’s third virus wave may have been factored in these estimates.
“We are looking at 7.5 per cent growth next year.”
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THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
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Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'
Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.
Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.
"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.
"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.
"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."
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