The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has appreciated the changes in India’s GDP figures. The IMF says that India has faced the energy crisis with a strong economic position and has met the challenge well. Not only this, the IMF said that the pressure on the rupee should not be seen as a failure of the Indian economy.

Krishna Srinivasan, Director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Division, said this in Bangkok on Thursday. He said that India’s economic growth has been strong and the government has also been careful in managing expenditure. According to him, the value of the rupee is influenced by world interest rates, investor confidence and crude oil prices. Since India imports oil, the energy crisis has also affected the rupee.

IMF has raised India’s GDP growth forecast

IMF has also raised India’s economic growth forecast. This was due to a better-than-expected performance in the April-June quarter. According to the IMF, India’s economy could grow at a rate of 7% this year and next. At the same time, growth is expected to be 6.9% in the medium term. According to data from the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI), India’s real GDP growth was 7.8% in the April-June quarter. The IMF report stated that India’s growth is being supported by strong domestic demand and good activity in the services sector. India’s large domestic market, working-age population and continued economic reforms are also its strengths.

What did the IMF say on the new GDP figures?

This year, India changed the basis of calculation of GDP figures from 2011-12 to 2022-23. IMF’s Krishna Srinivasan said that the Indian government has informed about the changes in the figures. According to him, the changes in the calculation method have been made under the advice of the Statistics Department of the IMF. Appreciating the work of MoSPI, he said that this effort to improve the GDP figures should be recognized. Apart from this, he also said that there is always room for improvement.

Why is there pressure on the rupee?

According to the IMF’s Economic Report for the Asia and Pacific Region, after the energy crisis, the currencies of many emerging economies, including India, came under pressure. However, this pressure has eased somewhat in the last few months. With interest rates in the world’s major economies reaching multi-year highs, borrowing has also become more expensive for emerging countries. Along with this, there has been a lot of fluctuation in currency prices, especially in Asia. The report projects crude oil prices to hover around $96 a barrel for 2026. It is also believed that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen from March 2027.

Rupee supported by RBI measures

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) took several steps on October 10 to stem the decline in the rupee. Under this, a special arrangement was started to meet the daily dollar requirement of government oil companies Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum. This system has come into effect from October 12. This reduces the need for these companies to go to the open market to buy dollars. The RBI has also tightened some rules related to foreign exchange to prevent betting against the rupee. Following this, the rupee strengthened for the fourth consecutive business session on Wednesday and closed at 95.17 against the dollar. A total increase of 171 paisa was recorded in the rupee in four sessions. This was the strongest level in almost a month.

Here Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also said that the rupee has decreased significantly in the last one and a half years. He said that the RBI will continue to take measures to prevent excessive fluctuations in the rupee. As of October 2, India’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $734.6 billion, according to the RBI. This is enough for about 11 months of imports. However, between April and October 5, foreign portfolio investors withdrew a net $10.3 billion from the Indian market. On the other hand, net foreign direct investment (FDI) rose to $13.8 billion during April-August.