2024-09-02 16:48:28
BhubaneswarIndia’s economic growth rate fell to a 15-month low of 6.7 percent in the April-June quarter. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das has given the reason for this. He said that this decline was recorded due to the reduction in government expenditure in view of the implementation of the model code of conduct for the recently held Lok Sabha elections. The RBI had estimated a growth rate of 7.1 percent for the April-June quarter of the current financial year. Das told reporters here, “The Reserve Bank had estimated a growth rate of 7.1 percent for the first quarter. However, the growth rate was 6.7 percent in the first advance estimate data of the National Statistical Office.
He said the key factors and drivers of GDP growth such as consumption, investment, manufacturing, services and construction recorded a growth of more than 7 per cent.
Two factors that are driving down growth
The RBI governor said that only two aspects have pulled down the growth a little and these are – government (both central and state) expenditure and agriculture. He said that government expenditure remained low during the first quarter. Perhaps this happened due to the elections (April to June) and the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct.
Das said, ‘We hope that government expenditure will increase in the coming quarters and provide the necessary support to growth.’
Increasing growth in the coming quarters
Similarly, the agriculture sector has registered a minimal growth rate of about two percent in the April to June quarter. He said that the monsoon has been very good and hence everyone is optimistic and positive about the agriculture sector.
The Governor stressed, ‘In these circumstances, we are fully confident that the annual growth rate of 7.2 percent as estimated by the RBI will be possible in the coming quarters.’