In what may prove to be a major embarrassment to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, top international news agency Reuters has created a flutter by saying that it's survey of economists suggests India's growth rate slipped to 6.9 percent annually in the October-December quarter.
Pointing out that it would be the "slowest growth in five quarters, making it harder for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP to persuade voters that government policies were delivering economic success", Reuters' estimate comes one day ahead of the Government of India is scheduled to release the second advance estimates for fiscal 2018-19.
According to Reuters, "Weaker domestic and external demand were key factors behind the economists expectations of sub-7 percent growth. India would still be growing faster than China’s 6.4 percent growth in the same quarter, but its economy has decelerated from the more than two-year high of 8.2 percent growth posted in the April-June quarter."
“The economic growth slowed in December quarter following weaker consumption as reflected by auto sales and slowdown in credit after a crisis in non-banking financial company sector,” Reuters quotes A Prasanna, chief economist at ICICI Securities Primary Dealership in Mumbai, to say. He adds, "Economic growth in December quarter could fall to as low as 6.4 percent."
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