Second quarter GDP numbers likely to be good, says Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth

Indian economy is showing momentum and the growth rate in the second quarter (July-September) is likely to be good, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said on Wednesday.

The GDP numbers for the second quarter are scheduled to be released on Thursday. The economy grew at 7.8 per cent in the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year.

"India economy showed good momentum in the second quarter. The second quarter numbers should be good", Seth told reporters on the sidelines of a national workshop on  'Leveraging private finance for urban infrastructure developments -- Learnings from G20 Infrastructure Working Group'.

He further said that the fiscal deficit target of 5.9 per cent for the current financial year was feasible despite additional outgo towards food subsidy. "We are confident of meeting fiscal deficit target this year despite the government raising food subsidy for the next five years," Seth said.

The Budget 2023-24 proposes to bring down the fiscal deficit to 5.9 per cent of the GDP from 6.4 per cent in the previous financial year. The government proposes to further bring down the fiscal deficit to less than 4.5 per cent of the GDP by 2025-26.

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