Before Omicron, India's Economy Grew Steadily, Show 8 Indicators

India's economy was growing at a steady pace in November, a month that saw the omicron variant of coronavirus induce fresh concerns on recovery risks

India's economy was expanding at a steady pace in November, a month that saw the Omicron variant of Coronavirus induce fresh concerns about risks to the recovery.

All eight high-frequency indicators tracked by Bloomberg News were steady last month, keeping the needle on a dial measuring the so-called ‘Animal Spirits' unchanged at 5. The level was arrived at by using the three-month weighted average readings to smooth out volatility in the single-month scores. 

But the pace of activity - based on indicators from demand for services to factory output - faces threats from rising cases of the omicron variant, first detected in South Africa toward the end of last month. While the Reserve Bank of India this month kept its full-year growth forecast steady at 9.5 per cent, Governor Shaktikanta Das sounded caution, saying “it is too premature to gauge” the effects of the new strain at this stage.

There are no economy-crippling restrictions yet, but the capital New Delhi canceled all Christmas and New Year's festivities and joined some other states in re-imposing night curfew as cases ticked up. The federal government separately announced widening the vaccination drive to include most teenagers and providing booster shots to vulnerable sections.