It comes as a great respite that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reaffirmed that India will be the fastest-growing major economy in 2018, with a growth rate of 7.4 percent, that will rise to 7.8 percent in 2019. According to a report on IANS, the IMF's Asia and Pacific Regional Economic Outlook report said that India was recovering from the effects of demonetisation and the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

However, in a note of caution, the report added, "In India, given increased inflation pressure, monetary policy should maintain a tightening bias." It said the consumer price increase in 2017 was 3.6 percent and projected it to be five percent in 2018 and 2019.

After India, Bangladesh is projected to be the fastest-growing economy in South Asia with growth rates of seven percent for 2018 and 2019; Sri Lanka is expected to grow at four percent in 2018 and 4.5 in 2019, and Nepal five percent in 2018 and four percent in next.

According to the report, Asia continues to be both the fastest-growing region in the world and the main engine of the world's economy. It contributes more than 60 per cent of global growth and three-quarters of this comes from India and China, which is expected to grow 6.6 per cent in 2018 and 6.4 per cent in 2019.

(With inputs from IANS)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 09, 2018 04:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).