The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has given a ‘C’ Grade to India’s national accounts and government finance data infrastructure in its 2025 Data Adequacy Assessment exercise. This grade signifies that the data provided to the IMF ‘have some shortcomings that somewhat hamper surveillance’. It places India below the A (adequate) and B (broadly adequate) ratings, indicating that persistent issues in key statistical areas make it difficult for the IMF and other economists, investors, and policymakers to get a completely accurate and timely picture of the Indian economy.

The IMF staff has given its rationale for putting Indian National Accounts and government financial data under Grade C. (It must be noted here that there is no change in India’s grade from last year). While the frequency and timeliness of GDP data releases are good, the IMF has flagged serious methodological weaknesses that undermine their accuracy.

Outdated base year: India still uses 2011-12 as the base year for calculating real GDP. An economy as dynamic as India’s changes significantly over a decade. The IMF argues that using such an old structure of relative prices and economic weights means GDP growth may be misstated, as it doesn’t fully capture the rise of new sectors like digital services.

Flawed deflation methods: To calculate real (inflation-adjusted) GDP, India uses Wholesale Price Indices (WPI) due to a lack of Producer Price Indices (PPI). More critically, it relies heavily on single deflation, which can introduce cyclical biases. Best practice is double deflation, which separately deflates inputs and outputs, providing a more accurate measure of real value-added.

Unexplained discrepancies: There are often large, unexplained gaps between the GDP calculated from the production side and the expenditure side. This suggests problems in data coverage, particularly in capturing the full picture of the vast informal sector and certain types of expenditure.

Lack of granular and seasonal data: Key breakdowns, such as Gross Fixed Capital Formation (investment) by sector (government, private, household), are published with a long lag. The absence of officially published seasonally adjusted data makes it harder to identify underlying economic trends from quarterly noise, argues the IMF.

As for government finance statistics (which also gets a Grade C), the IMF staff has raised major issues.

Missing Consolidated Data: The most critical shortcoming is that no official, timely consolidated data for the general government (central + state + local governments) has been published since 2019 (for the 2015-16 fiscal year). This means it is impossible to accurately assess India’s true fiscal deficit and public debt, as state-level borrowing is a significant component.

Severely Lagged Data: While monthly data for the central government and individual states are timely, a consolidated view across all states is only available with a lag of over a year, provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in a limited form. This hampers real-time fiscal surveillance.

Incomplete Coverage: The data does not fully incorporate local governments (municipalities and village councils) and extrabudgetary funds, which can hide substantial fiscal activities and liabilities.

As for other statics like the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which has received a B Grade, IMF has raised the issue of outdated consumption basket, which is based on a 2011/12 household survey.

Corrective measures

The IMF report, however, acknowledges that India is actively working to address these issues. A major rebasing of National Accounts and CPI is underway, with a planned launch in February 2026. This update to a 2022/23 base year for GDP and a 2024 base year for CPI, along with methodological improvements, is a critical and welcome step.

None of these issues raised by the IMF is new or newly identified. Economists and experts have raised these concerns – especially those of the deflator, outdated base year and consumption basket – on several occasions. Some of these should be addressed once Indian shift to new base year for GDP and CPI.