India’s economic slowdown a ‘temporary blip’ – New Delhi

By RT International

Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has commented on the recent slowdown in the country’s GDP growth, describing it as a “temporary blip.” She indicated that the government expects to see stronger economic performance in the upcoming quarters.

In a statement to the parliament on Tuesday, she noted that the GDP growth rate fell to 5.4% during the July-September quarter, marking a seven-quarter low. Sitharaman attributed this primarily to underperformance in the manufacturing sector and sluggish government capital expenditure.

In contrast, GDP growth for the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year was recorded at 6.7%. “The government believes that the trend in Q2 is only a temporary blip and the economy will see healthy growth in the next quarters,” she stated, adding that there is no widespread slowdown across the manufacturing sector. According to the latest government data, manufacturing growth declined to 2.2% in the second quarter, the slowest pace seen in six quarters.