IMF says India should not be punished for ‘economic failure’

India is set to get a boost from the International Monetary Fund as it seeks to recover from a devastating recession that has wiped out nearly two-thirds of its gross domestic product.

The Fund said Friday that India is expected to achieve an inflation rate of 3.5% in the second quarter of the fiscal year, its lowest since 2012.

The inflation rate is likely to be much lower as some of the data is volatile.

It is the fourth straight year of recession in India, which has been hit by the sharp drop in the rupee, the most popular currency in the country.

“We have been forecasting that inflation would reach 4% or more in the next fiscal,” IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a statement.

India has been suffering from a persistent recession since the beginning of the year and has been forced to make significant cuts in spending, tax revenues and social security programs.

The government has been slashing subsidies to the poor and has tried to reduce the burden on the middle class.

But India has faced strong resistance from businesses to cut spending.

The IMF said the current account deficit, the difference between foreign exchange and domestic currency in terms of the amount of goods and services that the government exports to foreign countries, is expected by the end of the financial year to be about 7% of gross domestic output.

In a statement, the IMF said it was also expecting India’s economy to expand by about 2.2% in 2016, and by 0.4% in 2017.

That would put the country on track to reach 4.7% gross domestic productivity in 2021.