GDP growth slows to 5%; misses estimates

New Delhi, Aug 30: India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the first quarter of the year slipped to 5%, which is lower than the 5.8% in the previous quarter.

This indicates that the economy in Q1 grew slower than the last quarter of 2018-19. The latter had recorded a 20-quarter low economic growth of 5.8 per cent.

It was the weakest growth rate since the first quarter of 2013.The previous low was recorded at 4.9 per cent in April-June 2012-13. The economic growth was 8 per cent in the same quarter of 2018-19.

The Reserve Bank had marginally lowered the GDP growth projection for 2019-20 to 6.9 per cent from 7 per cent projected earlier in the June policy, and underlined the need for addressing growth concerns by boosting aggregate demand.

"Real GDP growth for 2019-20 is revised downwards from 7 per cent in the June policy to 6.9 per cent - in the range of 5.8-6.6 per cent for firs half of 2019-20 and 7.3-7.5 per cent for the second half - with risks somewhat tilted to the downside," RBI had said in the monetary policy statement.

Chief Economic Adviser K V Subramanian Friday said the government is taking various steps to boost economic expansion.

He said the government is taking all steps to revive the economy and expressed confidence that the country would be on a high-growth path "very soon". "The government is alive to the situation and has taken several measures including mega-merger of banks (announced during the day)," he emphasised.

China's economic growth was 6.2 per cent in April-June quarter of 2019, which was the weakest expansion in 27 years.