Markets wait for 2014-15 GDP data

The Central statistics office (CSO) will release the gross domestic product (GDP) data for the January-March quarter and full year 2014-15 on Friday.

According to CSO's new GDP data, with 2011-12 as the base year and a methodology allowing for gross-value added, the Indian economy expanded by 6.9 per cent in 2013-14 and for 2014-15, growth is estimated at 7.4 per cent.

In a report released on Thursday, Moody's Analytics, the research arm of global ratings agency Moody's, said that India's GDP growth rate fpr the last quarter of 2014-15 (January-March) is likely to slip to 7.2 per cent from 7.5 per cent in the previous three months, mainly on account of lower production and weak global demand.

The report also raised questions on the new GDP methodology, saying that new data "are dubious" as they do not align well with other indicators of economy. The new methodology of calculating GDP has come under heavy criticism from economists and senior policymakers, including Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan, and Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, who say that the headline numbers do not add up from various standalone data, including the Index of Industrial Production.

On Wednesday, India Ratings & Research estimated the country's economic growth would come in at 7.3 per cent for 2014-15, slightly lower than official advance estimates.