Kerala GDP showing upward trend: Thomas Isaac

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac on Thursday claimed that despite national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) going down, his state has done significantly well in terms of development.

While speaking to ANI, the state finance minister claimed that Kerala has recorded the 7.2 per cent of growth and is showing upward trends since 2011.

“There has been an acceleration in growth, while national GDP growth average was 6.9 per cent between 2016-17 to 2018-19, Kerala’s growth has been at 7.2 per cent. This is a significant upward movement from 4.9 per cent achieved during the 2011-2016 period.”

Notably, the year 2019 was a difficult year for the global economy with world output growth estimated to grow at its slowest pace of 2.9 per cent since the global financial crisis of 2009, declining from a subdued 3.6 per cent in 2018 and 3.8 per cent in 2017.

Uncertainties, although declining, are still elevated due to the protectionist tendencies of China and the United States besides and rising US-Iran geopolitical tensions.

Amid a weak environment for global manufacturing, trade and demand, the Indian economy slowed down with GDP growth moderating to 4.8 per cent in the first half of 2019-20, lower than 6.2 per cent in the second half of 2018-19.