The Art of the Possible

/7 min read
How the Indian economy has kept growing above 6 per cent in challenging times
The Art of the Possible
(Illustration: Saurabh Singh) 

 EVERY TWO MONTHS, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) conducts a Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF) and asks them to give their estimates of a number of economic variables such as growth and inflation. In the latest round of the survey, conducted in July, it threw up interesting forecasts. Of the 49 economists who were surveyed, the median estimate for economic growth in the first quarter of 2025-26 (Q1, 2025-26) was 6.5 per cent. A month later, when the actual data arrived, it was found that the Indian economy had grown at a much faster rate of 7.8 per cent.