GDP growth in Q3 will be about 5%: PMEAC

India's economy in the third quarter of the current fiscal is likely to grow by more than 5 per cent, Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C Rangarajan said today.

India's economy in the third quarter of the current fiscal is likely to grow by more than 5 per cent, Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C Rangarajan said today.

HT Image

"Third quarter GDP figure could be more than 5%. Overall growth rate for the FY'14 is estimated to be around 4.9 % of GDP, which implies growth rate in the second half will be 5.2 per cent but there could be some adjustment in quarter 1 and quarter 2 growth figure.

"But generally speaking I think it (growth in third quarter of FY'14) could be in the range of 5 per cent," Rangarajan said at an event here.

He further said that Current Account Deficit (CAD) in the current fiscal would be around 2 per cent.

"CAD could now be close to 2% of GDP in the current fiscal. Last year the CAD was USD 88 billion. The CAD this year could be $45 billion, which would be roughly 2 per cent of GDP," Rangarajan said.

"Delay in completion of projects and critical inputs is hitting the economic growth. India's economy could grow at an annual rate of as much as 7 per cent if large-scale investment projects are implemented quickly," Rangarajan said.

According to advanced estimates released recently by the Central Statistics Office, GDP growth for 2013-14 is estimated at 4.9 per cent, compared to the growth rate of 4.5 per cent in 2012-13.