India has emerged from a very tough second wave of COVID-19, Gita Gopinath, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Chief Economist, said on Tuesday at the release of the flagship report that showed India continuing to be the world’s fastest growing major economy recording a growth rate of 9.5 percent this fiscal year and 8.5 percent in the next. The IMF’s World Economic Outlook (WEO) report kept the gross domestic product (GDP) growth projections it had made in July while India was in the grip of COVID-19’s second wave and had cut by 3 percent its forecast of 12.5 percent made in April before the pandemic’s recovery. Briefing reporters at the release of the report Gopinath said, India came out of a very, tough second wave and that led to a big downgrade in July but we have no change. India is doing well in terms of vaccination rates and that’s certainly helpful, she said. India however face many challenges, she noted.
