INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
He said the government expenditure was low during the first quarter perhaps due to elections
| Photo: PTI2 min read Last Updated Aug 31 2024 | 3:26 PM IST
The slowing of India's economic growth to a 15-month low of 6.7 per cent
in the April-June quarter was due to "lower" government spending in the wake of the enforcement of the model code of conduct for the recent
Lok Sabha polls, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said here on Saturday.
The RBI had projected a growth rate of 7.1 per cent for the
April-June quarter of this fiscal.
"The Reserve Bank projected a growth rate of 7.1 per cent for the first quarter
However, the first advance estimation data released by the National Statistical Office showed the growth rate at 6.7 per cent," Das told
reporters here.
The components and main drivers responsible for the GDP growth like consumption, investment, manufacturing, services and
construction have registered a growth of more than 7 per cent, he said.
Only two aspects have pulled the growth rate slightly down
Those are government (both central and state) expenditure and agriculture, the RBI governor pointed out.
He said the government
expenditure was low during the first quarter perhaps due to elections (April to June) and operation of model code of conduct by the Election
Commission.
"We would expect the government expenditure to pick up in coming quarters and provide the required support to growth," Das
said.
Similarly, the agriculture sector has recorded a minimal growth rate of around 2 per cent in the April to June quarter
However, the monsoon was very good and spread all over India except a few areas
So, everyone is optimistic and positive about the agriculture sector, he noted.
"Under these circumstances, we have reasonably confident
expectations that the annual growth rate of 7.2 per cent projected by the RBI will be materialized in coming quarters," the governor
asserted.(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is
auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)First Published: Aug 31 2024 | 3:26 PMIST
