It will take India at least 12 years to recover from pandemic-induced economic damage, according to the report published by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
"Taking the actual growth rate of minus 6.6 percent for 2020-21, 8.9 percent for 2021-22 and assuming growth rate of 7.2 percent for 2022-23, and 7.5 percent beyond that, India is expected to overcome COVID-19 losses in 2034-35," the report said.
Report on Currency and Finance for 2021-22
© Photo : RBI
The annual report estimated the total losses during the pandemic period at around 52 trillion rupees ($679 billion).
"The pandemic is a watershed moment, and the structural changes catalysed by the pandemic can potentially alter the growth trajectory in the medium term," reads the RBI report on Currency and Finance (RCF), which was released on Friday.
The 2021-22 report, dubbed "Revive and Reconstruct", is dedicated to bolstering the post-COVID recovery.
According to the report, India suffered some of the biggest pandemic-induced losses of any country in terms of output, lives and livelihoods, which may take years to recover.
The COVID-induced contraction has hit the young hardest. Nearly 30 million Indians aged 20 to 29 were jobless and looking for work in December 2021, accounting for 85 percent of the country's unemployed, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
In the foreword to the report, central bank chief Shaktikanta Das said it was not sufficient to stabilise the economy and return it to its pre-first wave path.
"The challenge is to generate a virtuous cycle of greater opportunity for entrepreneurs to innovate and invest," Das wrote.