GDP Growth May Slow Down Q2, Q3 – Pranab Mukherjee
GDP Growth May Slow Down Q2, Q3 – Pranab Mukherjee : Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said India’s growth will slow down in the next two quarters and the revival can only take place towards the end of the last quarter of this fiscal due to less than expected foodgrain production.
“There is no reason to revise my target which I am expecting 6 per cent plus. Whether it will be 6.5 per cent or 6.7 per cent, whether I will be able to retain last year’s (economic growth rate), I do not know. There may be some deceleration in second and third quarters…but the fourth quarter will make up,” Mukherjee said at the Forum of Financial Writers and the Commonwealth Journalists Association meet in New Delhi yesterday.
“Kharif production in 58 districts of UP and 38 districts of Bihar have been affected,” Mukherjee said. “Punjab and Haryana protected their crops by mining underground water at a heavy cost.” However, Unctad, in a report released today, predicted a lower growth of 5 per cent in 2009.
He said over 60 percent of India’s exports were targeted at three economies – with Europe accounting for 36 percent, the US around 15-16 percent and Japan with a 14-15 percent share – all of which were facing severe downturn.
The agricultural sector grew by 2.4% in the first quarter of this fiscal as compared to 3% in the same period last year.
On the G-20 meeting in London, Mukherjee said the club of developed and developing nations agreed to continue with the stimulus packages till the global economy fully recovers.
