India Poised to Surpass UK’s Economy in Next One Year - Finance Minister

New Delhi (Sputnik) — Indicating major seismic shifts in the global economic league table, India's finance minister has stated that the country will become the 5th largest economy in the world by surpassing the UK next year.

India's gross domestic product (GDP) surged to $2.597 trillion at the end of 2017, compared to France's $2.582 trillion.

"This year, by sheer size, we have overtaken France. Next year, we expect to overtake the size of Britain's economy and will become the 5th largest economy in the world," Arun Jaitley, India's finance minister said while addressing a function in New Delhi.

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Jaitley further added that India has the potential to be among the top three economies of the world in the next 10-20 years. Currently, the US tops the chart with the world's largest economy with a size of $19.4 trillion, followed by China ($12.2 trillion). Japan ($4.87 trillion) and Germany ($3.67 trillion) are at third and fourth places respectively.

"Other economies in the world are growing at a much lesser rate and India has the potential to be among top three economies of the world in the next 10-20 years," Jaitley added.

Several reports, such as those of the London-based banking firm HSBC and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have predicted that India could overtake Japan and Germany to become the third largest economy in the next decade.