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NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India's economic growth slowed to 6.6 percent year-on-year from October to December, well below expectations and the lowest in five quarters. official statistics released Thursday.
This stiffer than expected drop could paralyze Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of legislative elections scheduled for May, especially as the economic context is already marked by declining farm incomes and weak market demand. of work.
It could also lead the central bank to cut interest rates at its April monetary policy meeting after a 25 basis point decline in the base rate decided in February.
Economists polled by Reuters predicted an average growth of 6.9 percent in the year to the quarter from October to December, after the 7.0 percent recorded between July and September.
The Ministry of Statistics revised its growth forecast for the full fiscal year through March 31 to 7.0%, which would be the worst performance in five years, down from 7.2% previously. The new figure indicates that growth from January to March may drop to 6.1%, economists say.
* Indian economic growth:
Manoj Kumar;
Marc Angrand for the French service
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