India GDP growth projected at 7.2% for FY23: RBI Governor

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has projected India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 7.2% for 2022-23 from earlier guidance of 7.8%, announced Governor Shaktikanta Das while keeping the repo rate unchanged for the eleventh time in a row.

The repo rate or the short-term lending rate was last cut by RBIon May 22, 2020 and remains at a historic low of 4% since then in off-policy cycle to perk up demand by cutting the interest rate to a historic low.

Das on Friday said the global economy is seeing 'tectonic shifts' from the war and extreme volatility in commodity and financial markets. The revision in estimates is is based on the assumption of crude at $100. The Governor also raised the CPI inflation forecast to 5.7% for the current fiscal year compared with 4.5% in the last fiscal year.

The Indian economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace of 5.4% in the December quarter, as compared to 0.7% in the year-ago period and 8.5% in the preceding quarter.