GDP growth slips to 5.7 per cent in Q1 2017-18

02 Sep '17

2 min read

India’s GDP growth was 5.7 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal, slower than the 6.1 per cent figure of the previous quarter and much less than the 7.9 per cent growth in the first quarter of fiscal 2016-17, according to recent GDP data. Industrial output grew by 3.1 per cent in the same period marking a sharp decline in industrial activity.

This is the sixth continuous quarter marking a decline in growth. The gross value added (GVA) in the economy grew at 5.6 per cent in Q1 2017-18, same as the previous quarter but sharply lower than the 7.6 per cent growth in the first quarter of the last fiscal, the data released by the central statistics office (CSO) of the ministry of statistics and programme implementation showed.

Media reports attributed the decline largely to an inventory drawdown by firms ahead of the rollout of goods and services tax (GST) from July 1. The slowdown was most steep in manufacturing, construction and mining sectors.

This is considered by experts as the worst quarter for the manufacturing sector in five years, with growth at 1.2 per cent compared to 5.3 per cent in the previous quarter and 10.7 per cent in the same quarter last year.

While the services sector did quite well, growing at 8.7 per cent compared to 9 per cent in the same quarter last year, the gross value added by the agriculture sector dipped from 2.5 per cent in the first quarter of last year to 2.3 per cent. (DS)

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