Indian economy to grow 5.3 percent in 2014: UN

United Nations, Dec 20 :

The Indian economy is likely to witness an economic growth rate of 5.3 percent in 2014, while the global economic growth is estimated at 3 percent, says the UN.

The outlook for the world represents a slight improvement compared to the expected growth of 2.1 percent.

According to Pingfan Hong, the UN chief of the Global Economic Monitoring Unit, developed countries’ economy should grow by a 1.9 percent next year, while developing nations should grow by around a five percent, Prensa Latina reported Thursday.

Regarding specific regions and countries with an influence on the global economy, it was forecast a 2.5 percent GDP increase in the US; 1.5 in western Europe and Japan; 4.7 in Africa; 3.6 in Latin America and the Caribbean; 5.8 in eastern and southern Asia; 7.5 in China; 5.3 in India, 3.0 in Brazil and 2.9 in Russia.

The prediction, made in context of many risks and uncertainties, and no economic factors, like political ones, could have an impact on the growth, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development Shamshad Akhtar told reporters.

Presenting the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2014 report, Akhtar said that even if signs of recovery could be seen now, they were still weak due to issues like unemployment, austerity measures in Europe and budgetary controversies in the US. (IANS)