Prerana Goenka, Tushar Goenka

BENGALURU, (Reuters) – According to economists polled by Reuters, the Indian economy grew slower in the last quarter of 2021. This was mainly due to lower investment and manufacturing output.

Asia’s third biggest economy saw 6.0% growth in the October-December period compared with the previous year. The median forecast from 38 economists polled by Feb. 21-23 revealed that even though the Omicron virus disruptions occurred, it was losing more steam.

The April-June quarter saw an increase of 20.1%, and the July-September quarter witnessed an 8.4% rise. This was mainly due to the weak performance in those quarters that were held in 2020 after the pandemic.

Miguel Chanco from Pantheon Macroeconomics, Senior Asia Economist, stated, “The industrial production numbers specifically the capital and infrastructure good production points to a substantial slowerdown (in 2021Q4)”.

India’s industrial output increased by just 0.4% in December. This is much less than what was anticipated.

“The rebound that occurred in Q3 in the wake of the Delta (virus variants) virus wave in Q2 wasn’t sustainable. Chanco said that in all cases, Q4, especially on the investment side, saw a sharp exhaustion in momentum, which is the main reason for the slowdown.

In a separate Reuters poll, 6.0% was downgraded from the 6.3% forecast a month earlier. Ten of the 15 most common contributors have either revised their estimates or left them unchanged. Five of the remaining contributors upgraded.

The forecasts ranged from 3.0% up to 7.5%.

Data on the most recent GDP are due to be released at 1200 GMT (February 28th).

Dhiraj Nim, an economist at ANZ, stated, “Growth rates won’t still be muddied by base effects. So gauging momentum is slightly difficult.”

According to another survey, the January-March period’s growth is 5.0%. Omicron restrictions have partially limited it. This puts the annual average for the financial year at 9.2%.

The Reserve Bank of India is prioritizing growth. It held interest rates to record lows in February despite inflation surpassing its target range.

“Economic activity will continue to grow going forward… The pandemic gradually taking less toll on the economy. This perspective shows that the RBI ought to have taken the leap to normalize monetary policy,” stated Prithviraj Shrinivas chief economist. Axis Capital (NYSE:).