Strong Economic Performance in Recent Months; Favorable Monsoon Outlook Bodes Well for Future: NCAER

India's economy remains strong, supported by robust manufacturing, high GST collections, and increased UPI transactions. The forecast of a normal monsoon bodes well for the future. Inflation has eased, while employment indicators show mixed trends. The IMF and WTO's optimistic global outlook supports the positive economic outlook.

The Indian economy has continued to do well in the last two months and forecast of an above-normal monsoon augurs well for the immediate future, economic think tank NCAER said on Monday.

In its April 2024 issue of Monthly Economic Review (MER), NCAER said a range of high-frequency indicators reveal the resilience of the domestic economy with the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for manufacturing at a 16-year high and UPI, the leading digital payments system, touching the highest volume since its inception in 2016.

According to NCAER, Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections reached Rs 1.8 lakh crore in March, the second best since its rollout in 2017, while UPI recorded 13.4 billion transactions (in volume) in March 2024, the highest since its introduction, registering a growth of 55.3 per cent on a year-on-year basis. ''These high frequency indicators, coupled with a more benign global outlook projected by the IMF and WTO bode well for the Indian economy during the current year,'' said NCAER Director General Poonam Gupta. According to the report, Consumer Price Index (CPI) headline inflation was down to 4.9 per cent in March from 5.1 per cent in February while core inflation came down to 3.2 per cent during the same period.

The report said employment indicators again showed mixed trends with an increase in the number of net new subscribers under the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on a year-on-year basis.

However, the overall online hiring activities as per the Naukri JobSpeak Index, moderated year-on-year,'' it added.

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