GDP slumps to 4.5% in Q2 FY20; things will improve in second half of current fiscal, says FICCI

New Delhi: India's economic growth has slowed to 4.5 per cent in the July to September quarter from 7.1 per cent in the corresponding period of last year, said the government data on Friday (November 29). The slowdown in Q2 FY20 was largely due to a sharp dip in the manufacturing sector and agriculture output, said the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in a statement.

Commenting on the GDP data released today, Sandip Somany, President, FICCI said, “There has been a further dip in growth to 4.5% in the second quarter of the current fiscal. While this is a matter of concern, it was not entirely unexpected as many of the lead indicators of economic activity were showing signs of weakness. Private consumption and investment demand continue to remain weak although some improvement was noticed during the recent festive season.”

The FICCI president said, “The government has taken a series of measures in recent months to infuse greater energy into the economy and we are hopeful that in the second half of the current fiscal things would improve. The fundamental strengths of the Indian economy are in place, but we need to use this period of slow growth to take some more bold reform measures as seen in the recent past. Equally important is to address the problems in the rural sector where more income enhancing measures are required as this would propel demand.” 

Somany said that the singular agenda for the government and RBI in the coming months should be the revival of the economy, adding "We expect greater stimulus and counter-cyclical measures from the government and further easing of the monetary policy by the central bank."

"Additionally, there is a need to look at some stronger measures to ease the log-jam in sectors like housing and real estate, NBFCs, telecom and automobiles and we hope that some more measures will be announced at the earliest,” Somany added.