New Delhi: Enthused by higher than expected GDP number in the fourth quarter of FY23, Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran on Wednesday said India can look for another year of solid economic performance.
India’s economy grew by 6.1 percent in the January-March quarter of 2022-23, pushing the annual growth rate to 7.2 per cent on account of better performance by agriculture, manufacturing, mining and construction sectors.
Briefing media on the quarterly number, the CEA said the risk to the projected 6.5 per cent GDP number is evenly balanced and there is a good chance of this number may be exceeded in the current fiscal.
“So, we are very pleased to have been able to present a story of sustained economic momentum combined with macroeconomic, financial and fiscal stability, and we look forward to another year of solid economic performance by India,” he said.
Last week, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said the growth for 2022-23 is expected to be more than the advance estimate of 7 per cent.
As per the second advance estimate released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in February, the economy was estimated to grow at 7 per cent in 2022-23 against 8.7 per cent in the preceding fiscal.
No need to cheer: Congress
The Congress on Wednesday hit back at the government after the GDP numbers were released saying that there is absolutely no cause to cheer in them.
In a tweet, Congress General Secretary and communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh said: “The economy is not a film like QSQT – Quarter Se Quarter Tak. There is absolutely no cause for cheer in today’s GDP numbers. They will be spun, but deep structural problems on the double engines of investment and consumption remain”.
“The headline GDP growth is rather meaningless as the real worry lies in the following two numbers: 1. Private consumption – the biggest part of the economy – has grown only by a measly 2.8 per cent at constant prices in Q4. 2. Annual manufacturing GVA growth – the backbone of job creation – has fallen sharply from 11.1 per cent to 1.3 per cent”.
Ramesh said that the country, “thanks to Modi government’s policies, is neither consuming enough nor producing enough”.
India’s economic growth rose to 6.1 per cent in the fourth quarter (January-March) of 2022-23, a significant rise from 4.4 per cent seen in the third quarter (October-December), according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Wednesday.
However the growth in real GDP during 2022-23 is estimated to be lower at 7.2 per cent as compared to 9.1 per cent in 2021-22, the data said. The GDP growth was 6.3 per cent in the September-quarter of 2022-23.
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