NEW DELHI: India’s economy grew by 5.0 percent in 2012/2013, its slowest annual rate in a decade, data showed yesterday.
Low business confidence, slumping investment, high inflation and weak export demand from Western countries are blamed for the poor performance of the economy.
In the fourth quarter to the end of March, gross domestic product grew by 4.8 percent year-on-year, slightly higher than the previous quarter when it expanded by 4.5 percent, according to the data from the Central Statistics Office.
In 2011/12, the economy grew by 6.2 percent, a sharp slowdown from the previous year, when growth hit 9.3 percent.
On the Bombay Stock Exchange, the benchmark 30-share Sensex index had lost nearly 2.0 percent in late afternoon trade, down 384.20 points at 19,831.20 as investors reacted to the data.
The rupee slipped to 56.6 to the dollar.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development this week lowered its projection of India’s GDP growth for this year to 5.3 percent, from 5.9 percent earlier.
In the January-March quarter, the job-creating manufacturing sector increased output by just 2.6 percent, while production in mines shrank by 3.1 percent.
The services sector comprising banks, insurance and real estate was a rare bright spot, showing growth of 9.1 percent.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the figures were in line with expectations.
He received a boost from a new official estimate for India’s strained public finances, showing the fiscal deficit last year shrunk to 4.89 percent instead of a previously reported 5.2 percent.
AFP
