FISCAL TIGHTNESS MAY FURTHER SLOW DOWN ECONOMY

INDIA'S real GDP growth rate is pegged at a four-year-low of 6.4 percent for 2024-25, weighed down by a likely decline in manufacturing and investments.

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The latest estimates are lower on all counts. They are far below the 8.2 percent growth seen last fiscal, lower than the Economic Survey's 6.5-7 percent and even the RBI's revised forecast of 6.6 percent. The National Statistical Office's first advance estimates project the nominal GDP to grow at 9.7 percent, lower than the previous estimate of 10.5 percent. They show that growth averaged 6 percent in the first half of the current fiscal and is likely to turn in 6.8 percent in the second half. Analysts are divided, with some expecting the second advance estimates, to be released next month, to include a slight upward revision in both the real and nominal rates, while others believe the