India may be the world's fastest-growing economy, but a World Bank report has classified it as a lower-middle income economy, tagging it with Lesotho, Zambia, Honduras, Ghana, Guatemala and Djibouti. Other countries in the BRICS grouping – Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa – are ranked above India.
Other countries giving India company in its category are neighbours Bhutan, Myanmar, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The World Bank ranking classifies countries on the basis of gross national income (GNI). At the bottom are countries that have a GNI per capita of $1,045 or less while lower-middle income economies have a GNI in the range of $1,046 to $4,125.
Countries that have a GNI ranging from $4,126 to $12,735 are classified as upper-middle income economies while those at the top are economies with a GNI of $12,736 or more, according to the World Bank.
While Brazil, China and South Africa fall in the upper-middle income category, the Russian Federation has a GNI per capita of above $12,736, making it a high-income economy.
Most of the countries at the top-most bracket are developed countries, on expected lines.
India is currently growing at a rate of more than 7 percent, making it the fastest-growing economy in the world amid a weak global economy. Its neighbour China is slowing down and has been projected to post a lower growth both in the current year and in 2017, according to estimates by the United Nations, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
A Reuters poll had pegged the March quarter GDP growth rate for India at 7.5 percent. The government will be releasing the statistics later in the day.
