Published 12:57 IST, November 17th 2020
No India in IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath's GDP analysis? Netizens raise questions
IMF's Gita Gopinath said that positive vaccine news raises hopes but "still a ways to go." She shared GDP data from eight countries but missed India's numbers
Days after Pfizer announced that its COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective, Moderna on Monday said its vaccine was 94.5% effective in a preliminary analysis. Soon after, IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said that positive vaccine news raises hopes but "still a ways to go." Taking to Twitter, Gopinath shared a graph showing GDP growth of eight counties in the third quarter of 2020 and said that they are yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, with exception of China. She added that "significant gap" remains as pandemic surges.
The graph mentioned countries like the United States, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Korea, Mexico and China. However, several netizens were quick to notice the absence of numbers from India - a bigger and more influential economy than some others in the list - in the data shared by Gopinath, whereas a few also pointed out at the authenticity of the Chinese data.
'Professor what about India?': Netizens to Gita Gopinath
'Do you trust data shared by Chinese?'
Last week, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has predicted a strong likelihood of the Indian economy returning to positive growth in Q3:2020-21. "RBI predicts a strong likelihood of the Indian economy returning to positive growth in Q3:2020-21, ahead by a quarter of the earlier forecast," Sitharaman said at a press conference. Moody's Investors Service has also revised upwards its GDP forecast for India to - 8.9% contraction in the 2020 calendar year, as the economy reflates after a long and strict nationwide lockdown but added the recovery is patchy.
India's economy had the biggest contraction, 24% year-over-year in the second quarter, as a result of a long and strict nationwide lockdown. In October, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) projected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracting by 9.5% in the current financial year amid disruptions caused by Coronavirus pandemic which may turn positive in the last quarter (January to March).
"The Indian economy is entering into a decisive phase in the fight against Coronavirus. For the year 2020-21 as a whole, real GDP is expected to decline by 9.5% with risks tilted to the downside," said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. "If, however, the current momentum of upturn gains ground, a faster and stronger rebound is eminently feasible. Barring the incidence of a second wave, India stands poised to shrug off the deathly grip of the virus and renew its tryst with its pre-COVID growth trajectory," he added.
Updated 12:57 IST, November 17th 2020