Top economic official reacts: Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Thursday said the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) are quite strong and a healthy momentum in economic activities is likely to continue in the fourth quarter.

Speaking during a media interaction after the release of GDP data, Nageswaran said that the agriculture sector, which saw a decline of 0.8 per cent in the third quarter, will rebound in the next financial year. India's economic growth accelerated to 8.4 per cent in the October-December quarter of this fiscal, mainly due to double-digit growth in manufacturing and good showing by mining and quarrying and construction sectors.

The GDP growth was 4.3 per cent in the October-December 2022 quarter, according to the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Thursday. The manufacturing sector's output, as per the gross value added in the third quarter of this fiscal, grew by 11.6 per cent compared to a contraction of 4.8 per cent in the year-ago period.

"The actual performance of economy has continued to defy expectations and do better than what many had projected underscoring the fact that a structural transformation of the economy is indeed underway, both in terms of physical infrastructure and digital infrastructure as well as inclusion agenda, boosting the purchasing power of Indian households...," Nageswaran said.

Commenting on the agriculture sector, the CEA said projections of a healthy rabi harvesting, and expectations of the fading away of El Nino and the forecast of a normal monsoon bodes well for a better-than-normal kharif sowing. 

An improvement in household consumption, bright prospects for capital formation owing to an upturn in the private capex cycle, improved business sentiments, healthy balance sheets of corporates, and the government’s continued thrust on capital expenditure will drive growth, said Nageswaran. The Chief Economic Advisor also noted that while growth prospects appear bright external factors pose a downside risk.

In his presentation, Nageswaran said that uncertainty prevails over merchandise trade, with WTO slashing its projection for world trade growth in 2023 by half to 0.8 per cent from its earlier estimate of 1.7 per cent in April. Prolonged geo-political uncertainty and tightened financial conditions also pose a challenge to the growth outlook, he added. 
 

(With PTI inputs)