New Delhi, March 22: Amid the risks of spillovers of Russia-Ukraine conflict, Fitch Ratings has cut India’s GDP forecast by 1.8% to 8.5% for 2023. It cited sharply higher energy prices for cutting the growth outlook.
As the war in Ukraine and economic sanctions on Russia have put global energy supplies at risk, Fitch has lowered its forecast for global growth for 2023 by 0.2% to 2.8%. It said sanctions on Russian oil seem unlikely to be rescinded any time soon.
This comes days after Moody’s trimmed its growth outlook for the world and cut growth outlook for India to 9.1% from 9.5% earlier for 2022. It also lowered the 2023 growth forecast for the country marginally to 5.4%.
While Fitch has lowered 2023 growth forecast, the rating agency has upped its GDP outlook for 2022 to 8.7% from 8.1% earlier. It said capital expenditure-led Budget, Reserve Bank of India’s accommodative policy and little damage on the Indian economy from the omicron wave have set the stage for GDP pickup. Though it sees war in Ukraine to impede that growth in coming days for emerging markets like India, that have high dependence on oil imports.
