India: Is the world's fastest-growing big economy losing steam?

India's economy slumped to 5.4% , below the central bank's RBI's 7% forecast. What's going on?

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The latest GDP numbers paint a sobering picture. Between July and September, India's economy slumped to a seven-quarter low of 5.4%, well below the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) forecast of 7%.

While it is still robust compared with developed nations, the figure signals a slowdown.

Economists attribute this to several factors. Consumer demand has weakened, private investment has been sluggish for years and government spending - an essential driver in recent years - has been pulled back. India's goods exports have long struggled, with their global share standing at a mere 2% in 2023.

Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies report tepid sales, while salary bills at publicly traded firms, a proxy for urban wages, shrank last quarter. Even the previously bullish RBI has revised its growth forecast to 6.6% for the financial year 2024-2025.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8dq9rj63lmo

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