The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday said that India’s economy will shrink by a record 10.3%, making it the biggest slump of any major emerging nation and the worst since its independence in 1947, AFP reported.

The IMF, in its latest report on global economy, forecasts that India’s gross domestic product  (GDP) will contract 10.3% this fiscal year, the biggest slump of any major emerging nation and the worst since independence.

Even before the pandemic, Asia’s third-largest economy was struggling to gain traction, and the hit to global activity from the virus and one of the world’s strictest lockdowns combined to deal the country a severe blow.

The organisation expects India to grow at 8.8% next year. 

Among the other countries in the BRICS group, Brazil’s economy will contract 5.8%, Russia 4.1%, South Africa 8% while China will grow 1.9%, according to the IMF’s report.

It said the global recovery will “likely be long, uneven, and uncertain” with prospects having worsened for some emerging economies, with the exception of China but including India.