GDP growth numbers: Will there be some good news?

GDP data is slated to be released today, in the evening. This comes soon after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement in the Rajya Sabha where she said that the country was not in recession yet, and won’t ever be.

However, a set of data arriving today may qualify the statement to some extent. As, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) will release the data on gross domestic product (GDP) for the July to September quarter of the fiscal year 2019-20 (Q2FY20) today.

The upcoming data will likely show the economy had its weakest performance last quarter in more than six years, with the growth rate dropping below the symbolically important 5% mark.

It’s a culmination of several months of downbeat figures, from plunging car sales to shrinking factory output and an export slump.

Why in India, 6% Economic Growth Is Cause for Alarm?

India's economy probably expanded at its weakest pace in more than six years in the September quarter, a Reuters poll showed, as consumer demand and private investment weakened further and a global slowdown hit exports.

The median of a poll of economists showed annual growth in gross domestic product of 4.7 per cent in the quarter, down from 5.0 per cent in the previous three months and 7 per cent for the corresponding period of 2018.

That would be the slowest pace since the March quarter of 2013.

Besides, India was the world’s fastest-growing economy until last year, posting quarterly growth rates of as high of 9.4% in 2016.

What is the government's take on it?