IMF Calls India's New GDP Series a "Welcome Development": What the Base Revision and IMF Surveillance Mean
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said India's updated method for calculating Gross Domestic Product (GDP) follows international best practice and is fully in line with the IMF's own advice.
The Director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department called the GDP base revision a "welcome development". He said the changes matched the advice of the IMF's statistics department, while adding that there is always room for improvement.
India's new GDP series, released on 27 February 2026 by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), uses 2022-23 as the base year in place of 2011-12.
The statement came after a public debate over the strong growth figure for the April-June 2026 quarter (7.8%). A former official argued that the change in method had lowered last year's numbers and so made this year's growth look higher. The government's position is that revisions to earlier quarterly data are a normal result of shifting to a new base year and method.
The IMF also said pressure on the rupee after the global energy shock reflects global interest rates, investor mood and oil prices, and should not be read as a sign of weakness in India's economy.
National Income Accounting and GDP Measurement
National income accounting is the system a country uses to measure the size of its economy and how it changes. Its most famous number is GDP: the total value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a year. In India, GDP is estimated by the National Statistics Office (NSO) under MoSPI, following the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA). Every few years the base year is updated so that the numbers reflect today's economy rather than an old one.
The IMF had long asked India to update its old base year and move towards double deflation. Its statement says the new 2022-23 series does exactly this, which supports the reliability of India's recent growth figures, including the 7.8% for April-June 2026.
IMF Article IV Consultations and Country Surveillance
An Article IV consultation is a regular health check-up of a country's economy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). IMF staff visit the country, study its growth, inflation, budget, banks and exchange rate, talk to the government and the central bank, and then give advice. The name comes from Article IV of the IMF's founding treaty, the Articles of Agreement, which gives the IMF the job of watching over the economic policies of its members. This watching is called surveillance.
The IMF's approval of India's new GDP method is a direct result of the Article IV process. In its 2024 and 2025 Article IV reports, the IMF gave India's national accounts a C grade and asked for a newer base year and double deflation. With the 2022-23 series now in place, the IMF has called the revision a welcome development, which could lead to a better data grade in the next Article IV consultation.
- India's new GDP series: base year 2022-23 (old base 2011-12); released 27 February 2026 by MoSPI
- GDP growth, April-June 2026 (Q1 FY27): 7.8%
- IMF data grade for India (2024 and 2025 Article IV): overall B, national accounts C
- IMF data grades: four tiers, A to D
- India's 2025 Article IV concluded by the IMF Executive Board in November 2025
- Article IV consultations compulsory since the Second Amendment, 1978
- IMF members: 191