aspx? prid = 1693907 support the businesses and individuals during the turbulence. the rbi's measures to provide liquidity support to the economy helped ease the funding constraints faced by financial markets and enabled them to continue their operations and meet their financial obligations, thereby supporting economic activity. the government ’ s push for providing relief to weaker sections and hardest hit sectors of the economy ensured that their immediate concerns were addressed. the following year, i. e., in fy22, the indian economy started to recover despite the omicron wave of january 2022. consequently, output in fy22 went past its pre - pandemic level in fy20 7, with the indian economy staging an impressive recovery. just as india and the world were expecting to recover from the pandemic, the geopolitical upheavals in europe exacerbated existing pandemic related stress disrupting the commodities markets in particular. the turmoil led to increased prices and volatility in fuel, food grains, fertilizers, natural gas and metal prices, leading to a worldwide surge in inflation. the impact on commodities market can be gauged from the fact that the year - on - year growth in the prices as of march 2022, was 400 % for natural gas, 250 % for coal, 76 % for crude, 30 % for food and approximately 120 % for fertilizers 8. these increased prices led to multi - decade high inflation in many advanced economies. the inflation reached 10 % in euro area, germany, and uk 9. in india also, inflation reached 7. 8 % in april 2022, before easing to 5. 7 % in december 2022 10. central banks across economies led by us fed reserve responded with synchronised policy rate hikes to curb high inflation. since may 2022, us has hiked policy rates by 450 bps, while uk and the eu have increased rates by 300 bps. the conflict in europe necessitated a revision in expectations for economic growth and inflation in fy23. despite the downward revision, the growth estimate for fy23 for india is higher than for almost all major economies. imf estimates india to be one of the top two fast - growing significant economies in 2022. despite protracted global headwinds and tighter monetary conditions, india is still expected to display a healthy data from ministry of statistics and programme implementation, available at https : / / www. mosp

##i. gov. in / data economic survey 2022 - 23 imf, economic survey 2022 - 23 minutes of monetary policy committee dec - 22, feb - 23 growth and it is a testament to india ’ s underlying economic resilience and of our ability to recoup, renew and re - energise the growth drivers of the economy. the first advance estimates ( fae ) released by the national statistical office ( nso ) on january 6, 2023, placed india ’ s real gross domestic product ( gdp ) growth at 7. 0 per cent year - on - year ( y - o - y ) for 2022 - 23, driven by private consumption and investment. bank credit growth ( y - o - y ) stood at 16. 8 per cent in december 2022 as compared with 8. 4 per cent a year ago. aggregate deposits increased by 10. 3 per cent ( y - o - y ) in december 2022 as compared with 9. 6 per cent a year ago, led by 13. 2 per cent growth in term deposits 11. the government has continued on the path of fiscal consolidation in the union budget 2023 - 24 by reprioritising expenditure mix. the fiscal deficit is estimated to be 6. 4 % for the current fiscal and is likely to fall to 5. 9 % in the next fiscal. tax revenues have remained buoyant with monthly gst collections crossing ₹1. 5 lakh crore in january 2023 12. this makes india the fastest - growing economy in the world and today we are referred to as ‘ bright spot on a dark horizon ’. to conclude the first part of my talk, i would say that, indeed, amidst the challenges and uncertainties prevailing over the past three years, indian economy and financial system has shown remarkable resilience and strength. new horizons, partnerships and priorities moving on, let me focus on the transformative journey of indian banking sector during past few years and specially during covid period and how it is poised for supporting the indian growth story. the last decade has witnessed significant penetration of banking in the country. under pradhan mantri jan dhan yojana ( pmjdy ), 48. 20 crore beneficiary accounts have been opened so far with outstanding balance of ₹1. 89 lakh crore in these accounts 13. as of june 2022, there are more than 1. 6 lakh bank branches translating to approximately 15 branches per 1 lakh of