ECONOMIC GROWTH SLIDES TO 4.4 PERCENT

Pulled down by a drop in mining and manufacturing output, economic growth in the April-June quarter slid to 4.4 per cent, Growth was at the slowest pace since the 2008 financial crisis, with all but one of the eight sectors registering a lower rate of expansion or contraction. The country's gross domestic product (GDP) had expanded by 5.4 per cent in the April-June quarter of the last fiscal. On a sequential basis, the growth rate declined from 4.8 per cent in the January-March period of 2012-13. The biggest drag on growth came from mining and quarrying, which contracted by 2.8 per cent in the April-June quarter against a 0.4 per cent growth in the same period of the last fiscal, according to data released today by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO). Contraction in the manufacturing sector widened to 1.2 per cent from 1 per cent a year earlier. Other sectors, including construction, power generation, hotels and transport, showed a marked deceleration in growth. Farm sector output expanded by 2.7 per cent compared with 2.9 per cent in the corresponding period of the last fiscal.

The growth rate in the services sector, including financing, insurance and real estate, stood at 8.9 per cent against 9.3 per cent in same quarter of 2012-13. Growth in electricity, gas and water supply was 3.7 per cent compared with 6.2 per cent. The construction sector expanded 2.8 per cent as against 7 per cent in the year-ago period. The trade, hotels, transport and communications segment grew at 3.9 per cent against 6.1 per cent. Only the community social and personal services sector registered a higher growth of 9.4 per cent compared with 8.9 per cent.