Current Affairs - Economy

The OECD has increased its GDP growth forecast for India in the fiscal year 2024 to 6.3%, up from the earlier estimate of 6%. This change is due to India's strong economic performance in agriculture, which was supported by favourable weather conditions.

S&P Global Market Intelligence has upgraded India's FY24 growth forecast to 6.6%, as mentioned in the passage, based on strong Q2 performance.

The Ministry of Coal has taken the lead as the top procurer on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) Portal in the current financial year. As of September 20, 2023, the Ministry of Coal has procured goods and services worth Rs. 23,798 crore through GeM, which is more than its annual target for FY 2023-24 of Rs. 21,325 crore.

According to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Handbook of Statistics on the Indian Economy for FY23, Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) or e-rupee worth ₹16.39 crore was in circulation as of March 2023. Of the total e-rupee circulation, ₹10.69 crore was wholesale CBDC whereas ₹5.70 crore was retail CBDC.

India's trade deficit in August 2023 narrowed to $24.16 billion. This is a 2.8% improvement from the $24.86 billion deficit in the same month last year. The narrowing of the trade deficit is attributed to a decline in imports, which fell by 5.23% to $58.64 billion in August 2023. This was offset by a decline in exports, which fell by 6.86% to $34.48 billion.