Ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s first monetary policy review, the World Bank has said India’s GDP growth will remain robust at 7.6 per cent in 2016 and 7.7 per cent in 2017. According to the World Bank, Indian economic growth remained robust, which is expected to support continued poverty reduction, as in the past.

According to the report, South Asia remains a global growth hotspot and has proven resilient to external headwinds such as China’s slowdown, uncertainty around stimulus policy in advanced economies, and slowing remittances. The main challenges remain domestic, and include policy uncertainty as well as fiscal and financial vulnerabilities.

In Pakistan, economic activity is projected to gradually accelerate over the medium term reaching 5.0 percent in 2017 and 5.4 percent in 2018, building upon 4.7 percent GDP growth at factor cost in 2016 (5.7 percent at market prices).

Growth in Bangladesh has remained robust despite internal and external headwinds, it said. Growth will be sustained at 6.8 percent in 2017, coming slightly down from 7.1 percent in 2016, the report added.