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New Delhi: India regained the status of the world’s fastest-growing major economy in the October-December quarter, driven by higher government spending and a pick-up in manufacturing and services.
Gross domestic product grew 7.2 per cent in in the October-December quarter from a year earlier, according to government data released today.
The growth rate is higher than what the Street had expected.
A Reuters poll of more than 35 economists estimated the economy to grow 6.9 per cent in the October-December quarter. China had recorded a growth of 6.8 per cent in the December quarter.
India’s GDP had fallen to a three-year low of 5.7 per cent in the April-June quarter due to destocking in the run-up to the July 1 launch of the goods and services tax and a lingering impact of demonetisation. But in July-September quarter, the economic growth picked up to a revised 6.5 per cent annually, a return to a faster growth trajectory after five consecutive quarters of slowdown.
Meanwhile, for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018, the government revised its GDP growth forecast higher to 6.6 per cent from 6.5 per cent earlier.
