Good Rain Forecast for Parched India Lifts Growth Prospects
- SBI sees `double delight' from monsoon on growth, inflation
- Government forecasts best seasonal rainfall since 1994
A dry lake bed in New Mexico, 1991.
Photographer: Alfred Gescheidt/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
After back-to-back droughts battered India’s farmers, a forecast for above-normal rainfall this year is brightening the outlook for Asia’s third-largest economy.
Economists at DBS Bank Ltd., State Bank of India and Standard Chartered Plc say India’s gross domestic product this year may grow more than they previously predicted if the monsoon is as good as the government’s initial forecast in April. The June-September rains water more than half of the nation’s farmlands, making them crucial for the more than 70 percent of Indians who depend on agriculture.