With reference to the World Bank's October 2025 South Asia Development Update titled 'Jobs, AI, and Trade', consider the following statements: 1. South Asia's 2025 growth forecast was revised upwards primarily due to strong public investment in India. 2. The report found that AI adoption poses an automation risk to a majority of the South Asian workforce, given the predominance of low-skill agriculture jobs. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Question

Accepted Answer

A. 1 only — Statement 1 is correct as the 6.6% growth forecast was driven by higher-than-expected public investment in India. Statement 2 is incorrect because the report notes that the South Asian workforce is only moderately exposed (about 7% at risk of displacement) to AI disruptions, precisely because AI currently lacks the capacity to substitute low-skill, agricultural, and manual jobs which dominate the region.

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