New Delhi: In an unusual move, the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) will release the third quarter GDP data Thursday evening instead of morning, which is a regular practice.
"In view of the Budget Speech of the Finance Minister in Lok Sabha, press release on GDP estimates for the third quarter of 2012-13 will be released at 5.00 PM on February 28," an official statement said.
According to sources, the GDP growth rate for third quarter is likely to be below 5 percent.
In its advanced estimates which were released earlier this month, the CSO has estimated the country's economic growth at 5 percent during 2012-13 compared to 6.2 per cent last year.
As the growth rate in the first half of the fiscal was 5.3 percent, it is likely that the growth would slip to below 5 percent in the third and the fourth quarter.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had earlier questioned the advanced estimates of the CSO arguing that it had ignored the rising trend while projecting the growth figures.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, February 27, 2013, 22:48