Is India's growth story over? Not quite. History shows there have been ups and downs in the past too
Abstract:
The Reserve Bank of India has downgraded its forecast for growth in the current fiscal year to 5%. But going by the gloom that pervades our analysts and commentators, one would be tempted to think that the forecast is missing a minus sign in front of it. At such a time, a look at the post-reform economic history of India provides a good reality check.
Since 1991, when systematic economic reforms were launched, the economy has oscillated between periods of high and low growth with the latter lasting two to three years. Each time it enters a low-growth phase, sceptics and pessimists of different shades come to the fore, predicting the end of the India growth story. Each time, the economy proves them wrong.
Thus, alongside reforms, India had managed to register an average annual growth rate of 6.4% from 1992-93 to 1999-2000. This was the first time the country grew at a rate exceeding 6% for a continuous eight-year period. Even the 1997-98 East Asian currency crisis could halt the economy during this period for only a year. It quickly bounced back to grow 7.5% on average in the following two years.