‘Indian economy may take a year to recover’

New Delhi: The year 2009 is set to be more difficult for the Indian economy and despite the government’s stimulus packages, it would take at least a year before it starts recovering, economists at Moody’s have said.

“I don’t think the stimulus is sufficient to start a recovery. The most it can do is to minimize the magnitude of a further slowdown... India will most likely start to recover in the March quarter (2010)," Moody’s economy.com economist Sherman Chan said from Sydney.

She added this year will be more difficult than last year. “We probably won’t see a solid rebound until early 2010. The US needs to recover first. Then global economic activity will begin to pick up," Chan added.

India’s economy grew by 5.3% in the third quarter of this fiscal, its lowest rate in over five years, against a whopping 8.9% a year ago, as agriculture and manufacturing output contracted.