Second quarter GDP growth rate below expectations: Finance Ministry

K.R. Srivats Updated - March 12, 2018 at 03:26 PM.

A file photo of Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram.

The Finance Ministry on Friday said that the July-September quarter GDP growth rate of 5.3 per cent was below its expectations.

All the three major segments — agriculture, industry and services — recorded lower growth on a year-on-year basis for the quarter under review.

While agriculture and allied sectors grew 1.2 per cent (3.1 per cent), industry recorded a growth of 2.8 percent (3.7 per cent). Services sector grew 7.2 per cent (8.8 per cent).

The reduction in growth in agriculture and allied sectors has been on account of rainfall being lower than normal particularly in June-July.

The impact on the kharif crop has pulled down the growth, the Finance Ministry said in a statement here soon after the release of official GDP data by the Central Statistics Office.

In the industry sector, growth has been lower mainly on account of a reduction in the growth of manufacturing sector from 2.9 per cent in Q2 of 2011-12 to 0.8 per cent in Q2 this fiscal.

Although the growth rate of services sector showed some improvement in Q2 of 2012-13 vis-a-vis Q1, it still remains below the trend level, the statement added.

>srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in

Published on November 30, 2012 08:44