India's coronavirus-battered economy will shrink by 9% this fiscal, the Asian Development Bank predicted on Tuesday. This will be the first time in four decades that the Indian economic growth will contract.
India imposed strict lockdown measures to contain the spread of the pandemic and this has had a severe impact on economic activity, said ADB.
ADB expects developing economies in Asia to contract in 2020, the first such downturn in nearly 60 years. But the region is expected to rebound strongly in 2021, growing by 6.8% next year.
South Asia is likely to be the worst affected, while China is bucking the trend. China's economy is expected to rebound by 7.7% in 2021, while India will also bounce back with 8% growth next year, the ADB says.