International Monetary Fund (IMF) has termed the slump in global oil prices as a large windfall for India. Paul Cashin, head of IMF team for India, said yesterday in Washington that the windfall has made room for more spending on goods and services. It helped improve the external and fiscal positions, and allowed a sharp decline in inflation. Crude prices have plunged around 70 per cent over the past 18 months to around 35 dollar a barrel.In its latest report, the IMF projected India's GDP growth from 7.3 per cent this fiscal year to 7.5 per cent next year even as the economic recovery has been uneven. On Monetary policy, report said, it remains appropriately tight for achieving near-term inflation objectives. However it said the central bank may require a tight monetary stance for longer period. The pick-up in the investment cycle is yet to gain strength, the banking system is weighed down by bad loans, and the weaker global economy has hit India's exports, it said. Cashin welcomed the Reserve Bank of India's recent steps toward more stringent recognition and more effectiveresolution of distressed bank loans as well as raising of banks' loan loss provisions.