Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with economists and experts from different sectors on Friday, January 13. This is the usual pre-budget meeting that PM Modi holds with economists and experts to discuss measures to be included in the budget. The 2023-24 budget is due to be presented on February 1st.

According to sources, the meeting will be attended by a variety of the country’s top economists, representatives of private equity, venture capital funds and also top corporate honchos from various sectors of the economy.

It should be noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already chaired a meeting with the chief secretaries of states in the League of Pre-Budget Interactions, which will focus on the steps needed to strengthen the center-state partnership and the budgetary measures needed to do so are the same.

The interaction comes as the Indian economy is expected to grow 7% in the current fiscal year, according to the government’s first projections of national income released earlier this week. The government’s economic growth estimate for the fiscal year is slightly above the Reserve Bank of India’s forecast of 6.8% GDP growth in the current fiscal year.

It should be noted that the World Bank had also put Indian growth at 6.9%, compared to its previous forecast of 6.5% for the fiscal year. The IMF, meanwhile, expects the Indian economy to grow by 6.8% but also warns of a risk to debt sustainability.

Challenges for the Indian economy include the global impact of monetary tightening in the US and the rest of the world, and slowing global growth, which will affect Indian exports. One of the biggest challenges domestically is lackluster private sector investment in the economy.