NEW DELHI, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- India's economic growth in the fiscal quarter ended September fell to 6.9 percent, the lowest GDP number in more than two years, the government said.
The GDP numbers compared with growth of more than 7 percent in the previous quarter and 8.4 percent in the same period of last year, pointing to the impact of the country's current high inflation rate and rising interest rates.
The finance minister said while the latest quarterly GDP numbers are low by recent standards, they are not that disappointing considering the current global context and the slowdown in the domestic industrial sector, the government Web site reported.
Kaushik Basu, the government's chief economic adviser, blamed the gloomy global scenario, in addition to high inflation and a slowdown in decision-making for the slump in growth, Economic Times reported.
"The third quarter will also be a difficult quarter, but in fourth quarter we should see a very good pick-up," he said.
The government, however, expects growth for the whole fiscal year to come at about 7.5 percent.
The estimate is well below the 9 percent growth the government had expected, The Wall Street Journal reported.
