New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) The improvement in India’s economic growth after the slowdown in the July-September quarter is visible as movement indicators such as fuel consumption, vehicle tolls and air traffic have strengthened, Jefferies said in a note on Wednesday.New Delhi, The improvement in India’s economic growth after the slowdown in the July-September quarter is visible as movement indicators such as fuel consumption, vehicle tolls and air traffic have strengthened, Jefferies said in a note on Wednesday.
The Jefferies Economy Tracker composite indicator shows growth continuing in November, with the indicator rising 6.4 percent year-on-year, the second-fastest pace of growth in thirteen months.
“The festive season caused month-on-month volatility due to the timing of Diwali,” the report said.
Combined activity growth between October and November of 6.5 percent is a “substantial improvement” in recent months, with the fastest growth in five quarters, the Jeffries report said. “We believe the revival in government investment and rise in liquidity on the back of relaxed RBI policy should improve GDP growth in the coming quarters,” the broker said.
The broad indicators largely improved. November saw a significant improvement in diesel consumption, which saw the highest year-on-year increase in 13 months, the report said.
“Monetary tightening should be behind us,” Jefferies analysts said in the note. The RBI’s stance on liquidity was also well reflected in the fact that overnight liquidity has been in surplus for the past three months. We believe monetary conditions will continue to ease in early 2025,” Jeffries said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had also stated in Parliament on Tuesday that the lower-than-expected GDP growth in the second quarter of the current financial year is a “temporary dip” and growth would pick up in the coming months.
The Finance Minister pointed out that India has experienced steady and sustained growth, with an average GDP growth rate of 8.3 percent over the past three years, and remains the fastest growing major economy.
“At 5.4 percent, the growth rate in the second quarter is slower than expected. The second quarter of this financial year was a challenging quarter for India and most other economies of the world,” she said.
She also pointed out that there is no broad slowdown in the manufacturing sector. “A general slowdown in production is not expected as it will be limited to a few segments. Of the 23 manufacturing sectors in the Index of Industrial Production, about half remain strong even now,” the Finance Minister further stated.
–IANS
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