IMF’s ‘C’ grade meets 8.2% GDP: Jairam Ramesh reignites India data quality debate

Ramesh is now explicitly tying the IMF’s grade to the latest NSO print to argue that India’s “fastest growing major economy” claim sits uneasily with external scrutiny of its statistics.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday questioned the credibility of India’s latest GDP numbers, calling them 'ironic' in light of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) assessment that recently gave India’s national accounts statistics a ‘C’ grade.

According to National Statistics Office (NSO) data released earlier in the day, real GDP grew 8.2 percent in the July–September quarter of FY26, sharply higher than 5.6 percent in the same quarter a year ago.

Ramesh, citing the IMF’s grading and the official price assumptions, argued that headline growth is overstating the strength of the economy and is “not sustainable” without a revival in private investment and Gross Fixed Capital Formation.

यह भी अजीब संयोग है कि तिमाही GDP के आँकड़े ठीक उसी समय जारी किए गए हैं, जब IMF की वार्षिक रिपोर्ट में भारत के नेशनल अकाउंट्स के आंकड़ों को C ग्रेड दिया गया -जो कि दूसरा सबसे कम मूल्यांकन है। आंकड़े निराशाजनक बने हुए हैं। Gross Fixed Capital Formation में कोई उल्लेखनीय बढ़ोतरी… pic.twitter.com/PyeDuM6kXe

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) November 28, 2025

Why is Congress attacking the GDP print now?

The immediate trigger is Friday’s NSO release showing 8.2 percent real GDP growth for Q2 FY26, alongside an IMF report that, in its annual assessment of the Indian economy, assigned a ‘C’ grade, the second-lowest, to India’s national accounts statistics.

“It is ironic that the quarterly GDP numbers have been released very soon after an IMF report gave the second-lowest grade of C to India’s national accounts statistics,” Ramesh posted on X.

He also claimed the GDP deflator used in the official series implies an inflation rate of just 0.5 percent, something he said is sharply at odds with what 'crores of households' facing 'crushing price rise' are experiencing.

What exactly is Jairam Ramesh alleging?

Ramesh’s critique rests on three planks:

• No visible investment upswing: He says there has been 'no upswing in Gross Fixed Capital Formation' and that high GDP growth “is simply not sustainable in the absence of any renewed momentum in private investment.”
• Questionable deflator: He argues that the GDP deflator, the metric that converts nominal GDP to real GDP, is 'unrealistically low', effectively assuming an inflation rate of about 0.5 per cent.
• Understated inflation: He links the deflator to a broader charge that the government is “understating inflation to make GDP growth look better” while households face high price rises in daily essentials.

Taken together, the Congress leader suggests that both the growth and inflation pictures are being distorted by the way the accounts are constructed.

Context: IMF’s grading and India’s data credibility debate

In its latest assessment of the Indian economy, the IMF assigned a ‘C’ grade to India’s national accounts statistics, signalling concerns around the reliability and consistency of the underlying data series.

That review feeds into a wider, multi-year debate over:

• Changes in India’s GDP base year and methodology.
• Divergences between GDP growth, tax collections, and high-frequency indicators.
• The disconnect between strong headline growth and muted private capex cycles.

Ramesh is now explicitly tying the IMF’s grade to the latest NSO print to argue that India’s “fastest growing major economy” claim sits uneasily with external scrutiny of its statistics.