World Bank ED Mishra rejects GDP growth claims as 'ill-educated' and 'egregiously wrong'

World Bank Executive Director Neelkanth Mishra has dismissed claims that India's economy grew only 2.6% in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, calling them "ill-educated" and "egregiously wrong" amid a political dispute over official GDP data. Mishra's comments on X responded to former Finance Secretary S.C. Garg, who argued that a downward revision of the GDP base from ₹86 lakh crore to ₹80 lakh crore masked much lower actual growth. Mishra defended the new data series introduced in February 2026, saying it improved methodology and credibility, and cited robust indicators like strong vehicle dispatches and tax collection growth as evidence of economic momentum. Mishra, formerly Axis Bank's Chief Economist, projected trend growth estimates could rise to 7% or more with neutral fiscal and monetary policy. He acknowledged remaining economic slack, including weak real-wage growth, which may require several quarters of above-trend growth to tighten before inflationary pressures return.