Down and out

GDP surprises on the downside; govt must respond swiftly

The Central Statistics Office of the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released on Thursday its estimates of the gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter – that is, April to June – of the current financial year. They surprised on the downside; GDP growth during the quarter was 5.7 per cent, when many estimates had expected it to come in at between 6.5 per cent and 7 per cent, year on year. There have been several successive quarters of slowing growth now, and the government must examine carefully what it is doing wrong. It is worth noting