MUMBAI: India would already have been an 8% growth economy if it had not been grappling with an exceptionally difficult global environment, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor Poonam Gupta said, arguing that improvements in digital infrastructure, public services, manufacturing and governance have strengthened the economy’s capacity to withstand external shocks.“We would have already been a 8% growth economy but for the external shocks,” Gupta said during a fireside chat at a BFSI event organised by Business Standard. The economy’s resilience reflects years of work on strengthening systems, advancing digitalisation, improving transparency in public services and making state govts important partners in growth, she said.
India’s challenge now is to sustain that progress and raise its growth rate from around 7% to 8% or more in an environment marked by global uncertainties.External environment itself could provide a significant boost if conditions improve. “Now suppose this global environment becomes better, if not right away, in the next one year, another 50 basis points to one percentage point growth will come just from them,” she said, referring to the potential contribution of a more favourable global environment.