World Bank says India beat France to become sixth largest economy: Report

India is expected to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2018 and 7.8 per cent in 2019, leaving its nearest rival China behind

India Growth Rate : Updated World Bank figures for 2017 show that India is now the world's sixth-biggest economy, having muscled past France, which was pushed to the seventh spot, news agency AFP reported on Wednesday. India's gross domestic product (GDP) stood at $2.597 trillion at the end of 2017, compared to $2.582 trillion for France.

The US continued to be the world's biggest economy, followed by China, Japan and Germany. Britain remained the world's fifth-biggest economy with a GDP of $2.622 trillion at the end of 2017.

Backed by government spending and investment, India's economy grew at a seven-quarter high of 7.7 per cent in the January-March quarter of the financial year 2018. But this did not prevent GDP growth, at 6.7 per cent in 2017-18, from falling to its lowest rate in four years of the Narendra Modi government.

The finance ministry said India's economy would clock 7.5 per cent growth in 2018-19, the upper range of growth projected by the Economic Survey.

India is expected to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2018 and 7.8 per cent in 2019, leaving its nearest rival China behind respectively at 6.6 and 6.4 per cent in the two years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in April this year.

Last year in December, the World Economic League Table (WELT) 2018 released by the Centre for Economics and Business Research forecast that India would "leapfrog" Britain and France to become the world's fifth largest economy in 2018, ahead of an oncoming major global economic shift towards Asia.

Article Source : BS

Amid Doklam standoff, India-China trade war looms: Chinese media

The article said that China 'could easily retaliate' with restrictions on Indian products

A trade war seems to be looming between India and China after New Delhi imposed anti-dumping duties on 93 Chinese products amidst a military standoff in Doklam area, two state media reports here said on.

An article in The Global Times, part of the ruling Communist Party's publication group, urged Chinese firms to "reconsider the risks" of investing in India and warned New Delhi to be "prepared for the possible consequences for its ill-considered action."

The article said that China "could easily retaliate" with restrictions on Indian products, but added that it "doesn't make much economic sense" for the country.

Also Read :

• India@70: Are we really ahead of China & Pakistan? Find out
• In a war over Doklam, why China will likely be the eventual loser

It cited figures from the Indian embassy in China to show that Indian exports fell by 12.3 per cent year-on-year to $11.75 billion while India's imports from China rose by 2 per cent to $59 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $47 billion.

According to the Indian Commerce Ministry, the trade deficit with China last year mounted to over $52 billion when the bilateral trade stood at $70 billion.

"A trade war between China and India seems to be looming after the latter moved last Wednesday to impose anti-dumping duties on 93 products from China," the report said.

"If India really starts a trade war with China, of course China's economic interests will be hurt, but there will also be consequences for India," it said.

The report on trade comes as India and China have been locked in a tense military standoff in Doklam in the Sikkim sector. Read more