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COPE
The Economy Observer
18 September 2024
India’s Quarterly Economic Outlook – 2QFY25
Real GDP growth could slow toward 6%
For the first time in five quarters, India’s real GDP posted slower-than-expected growth of 6.7% YoY in 1QFY25 vs. the
RBI’s projection of 7.1%. We believe that real GDP growth could stay in the range of 5.7-6.2% in the remaining three
quarters of FY25 (with 6.0-6.3% real GVA growth), implying full-year real GDP growth of 6.1% in FY25 (revised down from
6.5% earlier) vs. 8.2% in FY24. This would be much slower than the RBI’s projection of 7.2% and the Bloomberg consensus
of 6.8%. We expect real GDP growth to improve slightly to 6.3% in FY26 (vs. 6.4% forecasted in Jun’24).
While we expect GDP growth to be slower, headline retail inflation is likely to average ~4.5% YoY in FY25, in line with the
RBI’s projections and market consensus. With inflation projected at 4.7% in 2HFY25 and real GDP growth at sub-6%, the
noise for rate cuts will grow, especially after the US Federal Reserve cuts rates this week. Rate cuts in India, however,
could materialize only in Feb’25, considering the concerns over weak deposit growth and the fact that 2QFY25 GDP
growth would be published at end-Nov’24, very close to early-Dec’24 monetary policy. We expect inflation to rise toward
5.0% in FY26, since we believe that core inflation has bottomed out and will start rising from 2HFY25.
Lastly, we have lowered our current account deficit (CAD) forecasts to 0.8%/0.6% of GDP (USD32.4b/USD26.0b) in
FY25/FY26, compared to 1.2%/1.3% estimated earlier. This is because of a downgrade in GDP growth, an expected
moderation in gold imports and continued strength in services in FY25/FY26. In the absence of any global shock, India’s
foreign exchange reserves will likely continue to rise to mitigate the appreciation bias in Indian Rupee (INR).
Real growth:
We downgrade our real GDP growth forecasts to 6.2%/5.7%/5.7% in
2Q/3Q/4QFY25, implying 6.1% growth in FY25 (cut from 6.5%) vs. 8.2% in FY24. We
revise it only marginally to 6.3% (from 6.4% earlier) for FY26.
An expected real GDP
growth of sub-6% with
average inflation of 4.7% in
2HFY25 does not inspire
confidence for a rate cut in
Dec’24.
Changes to our economic forecasts since
Jun’24
CPI inflation and interest rates:
We keep our headline CPI-inflation forecast
unchanged at 4.5% in FY25, but upgrade it to 5% in FY26. An expected real GDP
growth of sub-6% with average inflation of 4.7% in 2HFY25 does not inspire
confidence for a rate cut in Dec’24, and thus, more likely to materialize in Feb’25.
External sector and INR:
With crude oil prices expected to remain ~USD75/barrel
over the next 18 months, lower gold imports and continued strength in services
trade, India’s CAD could narrow to 0.8%/0.6% of GDP in FY25/FY26, lower than our
earlier forecasts and similar to that in FY24. In the absence of any global shock, it
implies an accretion of USD50b in foreign exchange reserves this year, with INR
remaining stable at ~84/USD.
FY25 Forecasts
FY26 Forecasts
FY24
MOFSL
MOFSL
MOFSL
MOFSL
Jun’24
Sep’24
Jun’24
Sep’24
9.6
10.8
10.0
10.1
10.6
8.2
6.5
6.1
6.4
6.3
7.2
6.0
6.3
6.1
6.1
5.4
4.5
4.5
4.7
5.0
6.50
6.25
6.25
5.75
5.50
82.8
84.0
84.0
85.0
84.9
(0.7)
(1.2)
(0.8)
(1.3)
(0.6)
5.6
5.0
4.9
4.5
4.5
Source: Central Statistics Office (CSO), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), MOFSL
Exhibit 1:
Forecasts of key macroeconomic variables for the Indian economy
Macro indicators
Nominal GDP
MP
Real GDP
MP
Real GVA
FC
Consumer price index
Repo rate (year-end)
USD:INR (average)
Current a/c balance
GoI’s fiscal deficit
Unit
YoY (%)
YoY (%)
YoY (%)
YoY (%)
p.a. (%)
unit
% of GDP
% of GDP
FY22
18.9
9.7
9.4
5.5
4.00
74.5
(1.2)
6.7
FY23
14.2
7.0
6.7
6.6
6.50
80.4
(2.0)
6.4
Nikhil Gupta – Research Analyst
(Nikhil.Gupta@MotilalOswal.com)
Tanisha Ladha–
Research Analyst
(Tanisha.ladha@motilaloswal.com)
Investors are advised to refer through important disclosures made at the last page of the Research Report.
Motilal Oswal research is available on www.motilaloswal.com/Institutional-Equities, Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, Factset and S&P Capital.