The World Bank has pegged India's GDP growth at 6.8 per cent in 2016-17 and 7.2 per cent in 2017-18 in its India Development Update released on Monday.
“India’s economy was slowing down in early 2016-17, until the favourable monsoon started lifting the economy, but the recovery was temporarily disrupted by the government’s ‘demonetisation’ initiative,” it said.
The report comes ahead of the release of GDP data for the fourth quarter of the 2016-17 on May 31.
However, growth is projected to gradually increase to 7.7 per cent in 2019-2020.
“India remains the fastest growing economy in the world and it will get a big boost from its approach to GST,” said Junaid Ahmad, World Bank Country Director in India.
The World Bank report also stressed that job creation, especially for women, should be the next focus for the government after GST.
India has only created jobs equivalent to 0.9 per cent of the adult population between 2005 and 2012 and most of these regular wage jobs created went to men, it said.
“According to an assessment done by the World Bank, India’s potential GDP growth can go up by a full percentage point if half the gap in female labour force participation rate with Bangladesh or Indonesia, is closed,” it added.