IMF raises India's growth forecast to 7.3%

New Delhi: The International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for India's economic growth in fiscal 2026 by 0.7 percentage points to 7.3%, citing strong momentum, but said growth is likely to slow to 6.4% in the following two fiscal years as cyclical factors fade.

The upgrade follows a revision earlier this month by India's National Statistics Office, which raised its estimate for growth to 7.4% in the year ending March 31, above the government's initial projection of 6.3% to 6.8%. In its World Economic Outlook report released on Monday, the IMF said the upward revision for fiscal 2026 reflected "better-than-expected outturn in the third quarter of the year and strong momentum in the fourth quarter."

"India is a key growth engine for the world," Julie Kozack, Director of the IMF's Communications Department, said last week in a separate briefing, noting that the Fund had previously estimated growth for fiscal 2026 at 6.6% in its Article IV staff report.