Slowdown in exports appears to have a major impact on performance of the manufacturing sector, as the GDP growth of 4.5 per cent for the second quarter of FY 20 hits a multi-year low, said EEPC India Chairman Ravi Sehgal.
“Exports have been either contracting or showing a meagre expansion for quite some time, even as we face global headwinds, aggravated by increasing cost of raw material and high interest rates. In turn, the manufacturing got impacted adversely, leaving the GDP numbers in a discouraging phase,” Sehgal said.
He urged the government and the RBI to take further steps, including making steel available at competitive prices, to give a competitive strength to exports.
India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the three months ending September 2019 (Q2FY20) fell to 4.5%, down from 5.0% in the previous three months and 7% for the corresponding period of 2018 as consumer spending and private investment weakened further and a global slowdown impacted exports growth.
This was the lowest reading since 4.3% recorded for the January-March quarter of 2013. With this reading, India’s economic growth fell for the sixth straight quarter.