India leading World Bank's growth chart of major economies, growth rate set to surpass China in 2015

Washington: India with an expected growth rate of 7.5 per cent in 2015 is set to surpass China and for the first time is leading the World Bank's growth chart of major economies.

"With an expected growth of 7.5 per cent this year, India is, for the first time, leading the World Bank's growth chart of major economies," said Kaushik Basu, World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice President after the release of the latest Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report.

China is projected to grow at 7.1 per cent in 2015. Developing countries are now projected to grow by 4.4 per cent in 2015, with a likely rise to 5.2 per cent in 2016, and 5.4 per cent in 2017, the report said.

In China, the carefully managed slowdown continues, with growth likely to moderate to a still robust 7.1 per cent in 2015.

In India, which is an oil importer, reforms have buoyed confidence and falling oil prices have reduced vulnerabilities, paving the way for the economy to grow by a robust 7.5 per cent rate in 2015, the report said. Basu said "slowly but surely" the ground beneath the global economy is shifting.

"China has avoided the potholes skillfully for now and is easing to a growth rate of 7.1 per cent; Brazil, with its corruption scandal making news, has been less lucky, dipping into negative growth," he said.

The main shadow over this moving landscape is of the eventual US liftoff, he noted.

Growth in South Asia is expected to continue firming to 7.1 per cent in 2015, led by a cyclical recovery in India and supported by a gradual strengthening of demand in high-income countries.

The decline in global oil prices has been a major benefit for the region, driving improvements in fiscal and current accounts, enabling subsidy reforms in some countries, and the easing of monetary policy, the report said.

In India, new reforms are improving business and investor confidence and attracting new capital inflows, and should help raise growth to 7.5 per cent in 2015, the report said.

In Pakistan, remittances are expected to remain solid, and manufacturing and service sectors should continue to recover. However, growth is expected to remain moderate, reflecting ongoing energy constraints, the report said.

According to the report, developing countries face a series of tough challenges this year, including the looming prospect of higher borrowing costs as they adapt to a new era of low prices for oil and other key commodities, resulting in a fourth consecutive year of disappointing economic growth this year.

"Developing countries were an engine of global growth following the financial crisis, but now they face a more difficult economic environment," said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

US economic recovery is continuing and interest rates remain low in other major global economies. However, there are considerable risks around this expectation, the report argues.