Q2 slowdown a ‘blip’, economy to see growth in coming quarters: Nirmala

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said India’s economy will see healthy growth in the coming quarters despite the lower-than-expected GDP numbers in the second quarter.

India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at 5.4 per cent in the second quarter of the current fiscal, lower than the estimated growth. Notably, growth in the first quarter stood at 6.7 per cent.

“Out of the 12 quarters in the previous 3 years, GDP growth rate was lower than 5.4 per cent in only two quarters. So, it is important to understand that it happened only twice in three years. Let’s not pick on that and predict the future,” the Finance Minister said in the Lok Sabha.

She added that India’s GDP growth rate averaged 8.3 per cent in last three years — indicating that there had been steady, sustained growth.

She said Q2 was a challenging period for the economy, but called the slowdown a “temporary blip”.

On claims of a general slowdown, Sitharaman said, “Out of the 23 manufacturing sectors, about half of them remain strong, so I am very optimistic on improved performance in the future.” She said the dip in some areas did not signal a widespread slowdown in industrial activity.

The Finance Minister made these remarks while replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants.