India Budget 2023: Global recession unlikely to hit much; here's why

Budget 2023: With Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set to present the Union Budget 2023 on February 1, all eyes will be on how she looks to keep the India growth story intact amidst global headwinds. Experts have mixed opinions on whether the global recessionary pressures will have a major impact on the Indian economy or not.According to Sanjay Kumar, Partner at Deloitte India, India will not see such a major impact of the ongoing global economic slowdown. "Even if there is a hit coming from the recession from other countries, it should not impact. Having said that, there is always a scope to improve on India's story," Sanjay Kumar told TOI."My firm belief is that if India continues to work on the path that it has chartered for itself, I think it will be able to get over this very well," he said.To substantiate his view, Kumar explained the importance of the domestic consumption strength. "If you see India's total trade, it's about 2% of the world trade. This basically means that we are importing or exporting together about 2%." "So, 98% of the world trade is produced and consumed outside India. I'm not going into the elements of consumption and production, but roughly," he added. In a recent report on the Global Economic Prospects, the World Bank has pegged India to be the world's fastest growing major economy. "Growth in India is projected to slow to 6.9 percent in FY2022/23, a 0.6 percentage point downward revision since June, as the global economy and rising uncertainty will weigh on export and investment growth," the report said.Also Read | Budget 2023 should focus on financial consolidation; need to scale back on subsidies: Renu KohliThe World Bank noted that some economies have maintained resilient growth despite the global economic backdrop. "In India, which accounts for three-fourths of the region’s output, growth expanded by 9.7 percent on an annual basis in the first half of fiscal year 2022/23 (April-March), reflecting strong private consumption and fixed investment growth," it said.While India is not immune to the global downturn, with a relatively strong domestic growth story, the Union Budget 2023 will be looked at to provide continued policy support to tide over the uncertainties.