Excerpt of World Economic Outlook Report April 2018 by International Monetary Fund

World Economy

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast that 2018 will be the strongest year for global growth since 2011.
• At the same time, it also warned that increased trade barriers - tariffs or other restrictions - could harm sentiment in financial markets, disrupt global supply chains and slow the spread of new technology.

Indian Economy

• Positives
• India has made progress on structural reforms in the recent past such as the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, which will help reduce internal barriers to trade, increase efficiency, and improve tax compliance.
• The current year's economic growth will be pushed higher by strong private consumption as well as fading transitory effects of the currency exchange initiative and implementation of the national goods and services tax.
• Risks
• India's high public debt levels and its recent failure to achieve the budget's deficit target which call for continued fiscal consolidation into the medium term to further strengthen fiscal policy credibility.
• Corporate debt overhang and associated banking sector credit quality concerns exert a drag on investment in India.