India said on Thursday that industrial output grew a worse-than-expected 4.1 percent year-on-year in February, as sluggish manufacturing and weakening exports drag on the economy.
The Central Statistical Office's data come as the economy suffers a slowdown following an aggressive monetary tightening drive aimed at fighting stubborn inflation.
The CSO also revised its January result to 1.1 percent growth from an initial estimate of 6.8 percent, but blamed the sharp fall on a technical error.
February's growth of 4.1 percent in manufacturing, mining and electricity output from a year earlier sharply undershot financial market expectations of 6.6 percent expansion.
The central bank hiked interest rates 13 times between March 2010 and October 2011 to curb rising prices, marking the most aggressive pace of monetary tightening by any major economy.
Muted demand in the United States and the eurozone, whose economies are struggling, has hit also India's export performance.
The Congress-led coalition government estimates the economy grew just 6.9 percent in the year to March 31, 2012 -- the weakest pace since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Industry bodies have called on the central bank to start unwinding its interest rate hikes to allow cheaper loans to boost investments and spur economic growth.
The central bank meets next week but economists say continuing inflationary pressures mean policymakers may only cut the benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point at most.
The central statistics department on Thursday blamed the sharp January revision in industrial output on mistakes in data compilation.
The industrial output figures are known for being volatile but the size of the January revision was unusual and was expected to fuel doubts about the reliability of India's financial data.
yahoo.com
The Central Statistical Office's data come as the economy suffers a slowdown following an aggressive monetary tightening drive aimed at fighting stubborn inflation.
The CSO also revised its January result to 1.1 percent growth from an initial estimate of 6.8 percent, but blamed the sharp fall on a technical error.
February's growth of 4.1 percent in manufacturing, mining and electricity output from a year earlier sharply undershot financial market expectations of 6.6 percent expansion.
The central bank hiked interest rates 13 times between March 2010 and October 2011 to curb rising prices, marking the most aggressive pace of monetary tightening by any major economy.
Muted demand in the United States and the eurozone, whose economies are struggling, has hit also India's export performance.
The Congress-led coalition government estimates the economy grew just 6.9 percent in the year to March 31, 2012 -- the weakest pace since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Industry bodies have called on the central bank to start unwinding its interest rate hikes to allow cheaper loans to boost investments and spur economic growth.
The central bank meets next week but economists say continuing inflationary pressures mean policymakers may only cut the benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point at most.
The central statistics department on Thursday blamed the sharp January revision in industrial output on mistakes in data compilation.
The industrial output figures are known for being volatile but the size of the January revision was unusual and was expected to fuel doubts about the reliability of India's financial data.
yahoo.com
Nice post. Indian industrial growth slipped this year because manufacturing sector growth dips this year. But there is great hope of improvement.
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