New Delhi: Moody’s Investors Service on Friday slashed its estimate of India’s GDP growth during 2020 calendar year to 2.5 percent, from an earlier estimate of 5.3 percent and said the coronavirus pandemic will cause unprecedented shock to the global economy.
The estimate for 2020 compares to 5 percent economic growth in 2019.
In its Global Macro Outlook 2020-21, Moody’s said India is likely to see a sharp fall in incomes at the estimated 2.5 percent growth rate, further weighing on domestic demand and the pace of recovery in 2021.
“In India, credit flow to the economy already remains severely hampered because of severe liquidity constraints in the bank and non-bank financial sectors,” it said.
Earlier this week, India imposed a three-week long nationwide lockdown, the most far-reaching measure undertaken by any government to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed at least 17 people in the country so far.
The lockdown has resulted in closure of businesses as well as factories and temporary unemployment for thousands of workers.The lockdown followed suspension of train, flight and long distance bus services last week.
The number of deaths around the world linked to the new coronavirus has crossed over 24,000. In India, over 700 coronavirus cases have been reported so far.
Moody’s said the global economy will contract in 2020, followed by a pickup in 2021.
