RBI's Professional Forecasters Survey pegs down GDP growth for FY12

The Reserve Bank of India's Professional Forecasters' Survey predicts a weakening in the growth momentum in the current fiscal due to the many headwinds the economy is facing.
    
The result of the 15th round of the Professional Forecasters' Survey conducted in March and released today along with the 'Macroeconomic and monetary developments report for FY11', finds a downward revision in overall (median) GDP growth for FY12, mainly due to an expected moderation in farm
and industrial growth rates.
    
The upwardly revised inflation forecast will also be a sentimental spoil sport, the survey said. The RBI introduced the Professional Forecasters Survey in September 2007.
    
"The growth outlook for FY12 looks positive though with some downside bias," says survey,as the economy faces many headwinds in the form a high inflation and surging crude prices ruling over $125 a barren for quite some weeks now.
    
The survey further says "available projections for FY12 by various agencies give a mixed picture varying from a high 9% growth to 8-8.5%."
    
The economic survey by the government has targeted over 9% growth, but following high inflation and surging oil prices, many agencies including ADB have revised GDP growth downward to a tad over 8%.
    
For FY11, the economy is believed to have expanded at 8.6%, and though officially the figure is not yet revised, it is unlikely to be better as the fourth quarter IIP numbers are already lower in the first two months of the quarter and the first 11 months of the fiscal.