Govt Indicated Slow Economic Growth for FY 2018-19

The Indian economy seems to have slowed down in 2018-19 on account of lower private consumption, tepid growth in fixed investment and muted exports, a finance ministry report has said.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO), which released the national account data for the third quarter, had in Feb revised downwards the growth estimate for FY19 to 7 pc from 7.2 pc. The 7 pc growth is the lowest in 5 years. In its monthly economic report for March, the Finance Ministry said monetary policy has attempted to provide a fillip to the growth impulse through cuts in repo rate and easing of bank liquidity.

“India’s economy appears to have slowed down slightly in 2018-19. The proximate factors responsible for this slowdown include declining growth of private consumption, tepid increase in fixed investment, and muted exports,” it said. The Ministry, however, said that India continues to remain the fastest growing major economy and is projected to grow faster in the coming years.