Government hails recovery in GDP figure of 6.3, mixed reaction from stakeholders
Updated: Dec 01, 2017 10:11:42am
Government hails recovery in GDP figure of 6.3, mixed reaction from stakeholders
New Delhi, Dec 1 (KNN) Citing numbers, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday announced the recovery from a slowed GDP figure of 5.7 to 6.3 in the 3rd quarter,.
The figure on one hand is being received as a sign of relief, however there are sectors that still worry on the overall scenario.
The GDP data comes along with the data of factory output showing a stagnant statistic in comparison with the previous month and a declined output in comparison with corresponding month of the previous year, most significant being drop in agriculture and negative growth in cement.
Drop in agriculture output will surely drop demand from tutal dress and the reduction in cement production shows problem with construction and infrastructure sector.
Talking to KNN, V.K Agarwal Past President of Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) said that the latest figure by the finance ministry comes on a very vague note.
Explaining further Agarwal said that the figure should be seen in light with the data of the past quarters, in which quarter after quarter there haven't been anything appealing and now all of a sudden a positive figure is not a very substantial thing to cheer upon.
He however did mention that the new number can be considered as a pause in terms of the downward graph that the country was witnessesing but the country is still far from achieving a stable outlook.
Commenting over the apprehensions that the economy faces , Agarwal added that the government's approach over basic infrastructure as well as the fiscal deficit is not in fine tune and calls for a well though framework to tackle these apprehensions.
Also over the impact of the demonetization and the preliminary glitches in the GST rollout, Agarwal said that the overall demand itself is severely affected.
"People have reduced their demand for non essential goods ever since they were hit by demonization, GST followed, this is going to haunt the economy for long", he added.
Commenting over the GDP numbers, Pankaj Patel, President of FICCI in a press statement expressed that the growth numbers are in sync with the expectations and re-affirm that signs of recovery are in sight.
The performance of industrial sector has noted an improvement after dropping to the lowest in almost five years in the previous quarter, signaling towards a positive way forward, FICCI commented. (KNN/DA)