TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ Severe slowdown in manufacturing activity in the country pulled India”s GDP growth rate in first quarter (Q1) ended June down to 5 per cent, marking the fourth successive quarter of decline in growth on the trot. From 8 per cent during Q1 of 2018-19 to 5 per cent in this quarter, the GDP has fallen by three per cent in barely a year. On a sequential basis, the growth rate came lower than the 5.8 per cent in Q4 of 2018-19.
The GDP growth figures came on the day when the government went on overdrive to prop-up growth by announcing a mega merger of public sector banks (PSBs). Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been announcing a slew of growth-inducing measures in the recent days.
Currently, a culmination of factors such as high GST rates, natural calamities, subdued farm produce prices, stagnant income levels and low job generation have led to the slowdown. Various sectors are facing a sales downturn. Industries such as fast-moving-consumer goods (FMCG) and automobiles have been the hardest hit.
