By: Taarek Refaat
NEW DELHI, Feb. 28 (SEE)- The Indian economy witnessed the slowest pace of growth in more than a year in the third quarter of the current fiscal year, raising doubts concerning the ability of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to achieve strong growth ahead of the upcoming general election.
The Central Statistics Office stated on Thursday that the Indianan gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 6.6 percent in the quarter ending last December compared to 7 percent a quarter earlier.
The economic growth during the last three months recorded its slowest rate in five consecutive quarters.
According to analysts, the slowdown in economic growth came as a result of a weak purchasing power mainly in car sales along with limited growth in the agricultural and industrial sectors.
Consumer spending trends, which accounts for about 60 percent of India's economy also witnessed a slow down in the fourth quarter of last year at 8.4 percent compared 9.9 percent in previous estimates.
The Indian government has updated estimates for the current fiscal year's economic growth from 7.2 percent to 7 percent.
The central bank of India shifted to a more flexible policy in order to boost the slowing economy, cutting interest rates by 25 basis points to reach 6.25 percent.
The Indian rupee exchange rate observed a 0.7 percent rise against the US dollar, with the greenback falling to 70.7462 rupees.
One Egyptian pound (EGP) recorded 4.04 rupees, up from 3.69 a year earlier.
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