China and India can propel global growth

On the eve of the annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank - which saw finance ministers and central bankers from across the world gathering in Washington on April 12-14 - the IMF World Economic Outlook 2019 projected a sharp decline in the growth rates of 70 percent of the economies including the advanced G7 economies, except Japan.

However, this global deceleration, already softened to 3.6 percent for 2018 and estimated to slide further to 3.3 percent for 2019, is projected to stabilize at 3.5 percent from 2020.

What is interesting in this projection is that China and India - expected to sustain growth rates of more than 6 percent and 7 percent, respectively - will further strengthen their positions as engines of global growth and also enhance their share in global income. While India's growth is projected to increase from 7.1 percent last year to 7.3 and 7.5 percent in 2019 and 2020, China's growth is projected to decline from the current 6.6 percent to 6.3 and 6.1 percent.