The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lowered its projection for the country's economic growth to 5.8 per cent from its earlier estimate of 6.5 per cent due to rising
uncertainty in global economy and sluggish investment and consumption.
The lowering of growth forecast by the RBI comes a few weeks after the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) sharply lowered India's GDP growth projection, citing sluggish structural reforms and worsening global economic situation.
The IMF early in October cut India's GDP growth forecast for 2012 to 4.9 per cent from its earlier projection of 6.2 per cent announced in July.
Announcing the
second quarter review of monetary policy for 2012-13, RBI Governor D. Subbarao said the central bank has revised downward the growth projection for Indian economy due to combination of global and domestic factors.
"Over the last quarter, global risks have increased and domestic risks have become accentuated owing to halted investment demand, moderation in consumption spending, and continuing erosion in export competitiveness accompanied by weakening business and consumer confidence," Subbarao said.
"The industrial outlook remains uncertain. Notwithstanding the improvement in rainfall in the months of August and September, the first advance estimates of the 2012 kharif production are about 10 per cent lower than last year's production. On the basis of the above considerations, the baseline projection of GDP growth for 2012-13 is revised downwards from 6.5 per cent to 5.8 per cent," the RBI governor added.
Indian economy has registered
sluggish growth in the recent quarters. It expanded by 5.3 per cent in January-March 2012 quarter and 5.5 per cent in the quarter ended June, according to government data.
The slight improvement in gross domestic product (GDP) growth April-June quarter as compared to the previous quarter was mainly driven by growth in construction, and supported by better than expected growth in agriculture.
"On the demand side, the growth of gross fixed capital formation decelerated, while the slowdown in growth of private consumption expenditure continued. The external demand conditions and crude oil prices also remained unfavourable, adversely impacting net exports," the central bank said.
with inputs from IANS
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