‘GDP likely to grow 5.5 per cent in 2015’

December 19, 2014 03:20 pm | Updated April 07, 2016 04:56 am IST - New Delhi

NEW DELHI: GDP GROWTH . PTI GRAPHICS(PTI12_19_2014_000033B)

NEW DELHI: GDP GROWTH . PTI GRAPHICS(PTI12_19_2014_000033B)

The country’s economy is likely to grow at around 5.5 per cent in the current fiscal, the Finance Ministry said in its mid-year review tabled in Parliament on Friday.

In the first six months of 2014-15, the economy grew at an annual 5.5 per cent, the report said.

Based on the trend of receipts and expenditure relative to the budget, the Finance Ministry said the budget deficit target is in line with estimates.

The report added that the government expected no change in interest rates till the fiscal year ends in March.

Presenting the report, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told the Lok Sabha that lower international crude prices will help keep down the current account deficit. Prices have plunged to a five-year low from over $100 a barrel in June to $58 now.

The Indian economy logged 5.3 per cent growth in the second quarter of this fiscal, against 5.7 per cent in the first quarter.

Consumer price index-based inflation, meanwhile, eased to a record low of 4.38 per cent during November — from 11.16 per cent during the corresponding month in 2013 — on the back of lower food prices.

The economy expanded at 4.7 per cent in the entire 2013-14 financial year, marking a second straight year of below 5 per cent growth.

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