Economic Growth Slows Sharply In The Fourth Quarter
Growth slows due to weakness in construction and finance segments.
Fears of a slowdown in the economy, which, so far, have been tough to prove are now showing up in economic data.
National income data released on Wednesday shows that gross value added (GVA) growth slowed sharply in the fourth quarter to 5.6 percent, compared to 6.7 percent in the third quarter. Growth in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 is also much lower than the 8.7 percent growth reported in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016.
GVA growth has become a preferred measure of economic growth as it strips out the impact of indirect taxes and subsidies. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth, a more commonly used measure, suggested that growth in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 stood at 6.1 percent.
For the full fiscal year, GVA growth stood at 6.6 percent compared to 7.9 percent in fiscal 2016. The data released today captures the impact of the revised series of the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).