According to government projections released on Friday, the Indian economy is expected to contract 7.7% in 2020-2021 amid the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, before recovering with 11% growth in 2021-2022.

also readIndia: angry farmers conquer the Red Fort

These forecasts are in line with those of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which expects growth of 11.5% for the next fiscal year (from April 2021 to the end of March 2022). Authorities expect a V-shaped recovery for fiscal year ending March 31, 2021 after the sharpest decline in GDP in more than 40 years.

These projections were released ahead of the government’s release of the budget on Monday. “After a 23.09% slump in GDP in the first quarter of the delayed fiscal year 2020/2021, India is expected to be the fastest growing economy in the next two yearsKrishnamurthy Subramanian, the government’s chief economist, said.

The South Asian giant with 1.3 billion inhabitants is measured by the number of infected people with 10.5 million cases, the second most affected country in the world by the pandemic. But the number of new infections has fallen sharply in recent weeks and the authorities are expecting the mass vaccination campaign that began in January.