World Bank Chief Jim Yong Kim has said he expects the Indian economy to return to higher growth levels on the back of a resurgence in the global exports market.
Kim said he expected the Indian economy to grow by six percent in 2013-14, up from a lower than expected five percent growth in the current year.
“India has made just extraordinary contributions to the global economy. Its shares in the global economy have almost doubled in the five years from 2005 to 2010, so India overall is a fantastic success story. Their growth rate of 5 percent this year is one that has been somewhat disappointing but we are very encouraged by what”s happening and what will happen, we think it will get back to higher levels of growth,” Kim said after meeting Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi.
Praising India for the strong growth notched up in the 2005 to 2010 period when its share in global economy almost doubled, Kim said the Indian economy had also been affected by the global slowdown.
“Well you know the Indian economy like every other economy is subject to the global slowdown and we think that that has also had an effect here and as export markets start doing better we think India will do better as well,” he added.
This is Kim”s first visit to India after taking over as President of the World Bank Group last July.
India unveiled the 2013-14 budget on February 28, which seeks to meet its fiscal deficit target of 4.8 percent of gross domestic product by raising revenue to fund a dash for growth ahead of elections due by next year.
————–ANI