India is now the world's 5th largest economy, according to IMF

India has now become the fifth largest economy in the world according to a report released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Saturday. The ranking is based on the country's nominal GDP. According to the report, India's GDP growth has been among the "highest in the world" in the past decade, regularly achieving annual nominal GDP growth of between 6-7%. India has leaped up in the charts recording a GDP of USD 2.94 trillion.

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Taking the fifth position, India has overtaken countries like France and the UK. The size of the UK economy stands at USD 2.83 trillion and that of France stands at USD 2.71 trillion. In 2010, India was trailing behind countries like Brazil and Italy. India's real GDP, however, which is a measure of the country's inflation, is said to slow down this year due to "credit weaknesses".  

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According to a 2016 McKinsey Global Institute report, the rapid rise in the country's GDP has been fueled by a number of factors, according to ncluding urbanization and technologies that have improved efficiency and productivity.

Ambitious targets set by FM

While releasing the Union Budget 2020 this year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that the country was expecting nominal GDP growth of 10 percent in the next fiscal year as compared to the usual 7-7.5%. She had also announced that the nominal GDP growth rate was only expected to grow with 12.6 percent and 12.8 percent in FY22 and FY23, respectively. 

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India's next major target is achieving a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024-25. The Indian government on numerous occasions has stated that it has been setting the foundation of the ambitious target by increasing consumption while ensuring that the government's investment is deployed in infrastructure. 

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