Business News
Advance Growth Estimate Shows Government Reforms Yielding Results, Says Bibek Debroy
Economic growth in the third and fourth quarters of the current fiscal will be better than the first half of this financial year, Bibek Debroy said
New Delhi: India’s advance GDP growth estimate of 6.5 per cent for this fiscal shows reform measures taken by the government is yielding results and growth will accelerate to over 7 per cent in 2018-19, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), Bibek Debroy Saturday said. Economic growth in the third and fourth quarters of the current fiscal will be better than the first half of this financial year, he said. “Advance GDP growth estimate of 6.5 per cent shows that the reform measures undertaken by the government are yielding results, because 6.5 per cent for the full year means that Q3 and Q4 numbers will be far better than first half of the year. Q3 numbers should be higher than 6.5 per cent and Q4 numbers will be close to 7 per cent,” Debroy said in a statement.
Growth numbers will depend on the indirect tax collections, he said, adding several indicators have already shown signs of improvement, whether it is the PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index), the high growth in the 8 core sector industries or data on car sales. “The reform measures undertaken by the government will stimulate and pick up growth to more than 7 per cent in 2018- 19,” Debroy said.
He also expressed confidence that private investments and exports would pick up soon. According to Central Statistics Office (CSO) data released today the country’s economic growth is expected to slow down to a four year low of 6.5 per cent in 2017-18 mainly due to poor performance of the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. The GDP growth was 7.1 per cent in 2016-17.
