SBI cuts India's economic growth rate forecast

The Chief Economist of the State Bank of India has reduced the growth forecast of the Indian economy from 7.5 percent to 6.8 percent in the 2022-23 financial year. The reason for this has been attributed to lower than expected growth rate in the first quarter.

According to news agency PTI, SBI Group's chief economic advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh, however, has projected the growth rate to pick up in the second half of the 2022-23 financial year.

Earlier, in the data released on Wednesday, August 31, 2022, the National Statistical Office (NSO) had said that the Indian economy grew at 13.5 percent in the first quarter of the financial year 2022-23 due to the poor performance of the manufacturing sector. Between April 2022 to June 2022, the growth rate of this sector was only 4.8 percent.

Soumya Kanti Ghosh had said in his earlier estimate that India's economy will grow at a rate of 15.7 percent in the first quarter. The Reserve Bank of India had projected the highest growth of 16.7 per cent.

Soumya Kanti Ghosh has said that GDP figures hide more than they reveal facts. They have demanded a review of the group of items surveyed for estimating the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Earlier it was reviewed 10 years ago in 2012. According to Ghosh, although the GDP has grown in double digits, it is less than the market expectations. He attributed this to the slowdown in the manufacturing sector.