The Indian economy advanced 5 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2019, slowing from a 5.8 percent expansion in the prior period and missing market consensus of 5.7 percent.
It was the weakest growth rate since the first quarter of 2013 (slowest in 6 years) , and also remarked a slowdown in manufacturing and construction sectors.
The economic situation has got complicated in the view of banks refusing to lower lending rates and adopting a circumspect approach in extending credit to industry
“Government is taking steps. We should be back to the high growth path soon,” chief economic adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian said, adding green shoots were visible, pointing to high growth in electricity.
In its annual report released on Thursday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had said that the slowdown was cyclical, rather than structural, which would have required deeper reforms. Major reforms are still needed.
Dr.Manmohan Singh In a video statement, said the state of the economy was “deeply worrying” and the near zero% growth of the manufacturing sector proved that it had not fully recovered from the “blunders of demonetisation and a hastily implemented GST.”
The government must focus, the experts say, on addressing joblessness, cleaning up the banking sector, overhauling the agricultural sector and increasing private investment to fix problems of the Indian economy.