GDP grows 0.4 per cent in December quarter, India exits technical recession

GDP grows 0.4 per cent in December quarter, India exits technical recession

• By Staff Writer

GDP grows 0.4 per cent in December quarter, India exits technical recession

NEW DELHI: The economy grew a modest 0.4% in the October-December quarter, data released by the statistics office on Friday showed, joining a select club of countries including China, Taiwan and Vietnam that have seen positive year-on-year growth in the period and reversing a technical depression of the two previous quarters due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The economy had grown 3.3% in the corresponding period of 2019. An ET survey of economists had estimated a median 0.32% growth in the fiscal third quarter.

Continue Fiscal Measures: Experts

For the ongoing financial year, GDP is seen contacting 8%, cavernous than the 7.7% decline forecast earlier, implying a 1.1% contraction in the January-March quarter from a year ago.

The revised data showed a deeper 24.4% contraction in the worst hit April-June quarter against 23.9% estimated ultimately, partly explaining the downward revision in full-year forecast.

The July-September quarter was revised up marginally to -7.3% from -7.5% earlier.

 Financial services posted a surprise recover, as manufacturing joined agriculture in improvement, but the overall services sector contracted 1%, underlining the importance of faster vaccinations to revive contact-based sectors such hospitality and retail.

The government said the positive growth rate was “reflection of a further strengthening of V-shaped recovery that began in Q2 of 2020-21” but warned that India was still not out of the woods.