“...growth could dip to below 6 per cent (we forecast 6.4 per cent for FY’10) in the event of a drought, support from fiscal measures should prevent it from falling more dramatically,” Standard Chartered Bank said in a report.
It said that a slowdown in personal consumption expenditure is inevitable, should the rains fail, as the agriculture sector employs 52 per cent of the total labour force. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy has revised down India’s growth forecast to 5.8 per cent in the current fiscal on account of lower agricultural output and slower industrial recovery.
Published 19 July 2009, 17:58 IST