NEW DELHI (Dispatches) - India’s economy expanded faster than expected last quarter before a resurgent coronavirus pandemic unleashed a new wave of challenges.
Gross domestic product rose 1.6% from a year earlier in the three months ended March, the Statistics Ministry said Monday. That was faster than the 1% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The number marks the second straight quarter of expansion following a rare recession, which tipped the economy into an unprecedented 7.3% contraction for the full fiscal year ended March. That compares with a median 7.5% decline estimated in a Bloomberg survey.
Stocks jumped 1%, the biggest advance in 10 days, before the GDP numbers were published. The yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond rose two basis points to 6.02%, while the rupee slipped 0.2% ahead of the data.
India’s GDP will grow 10% in the year that began April 1, according to the median of 12 estimates compiled by Bloomberg News. That’s after several economists downgraded their forecasts in recent weeks to factor in local curbs on activity, including in India’s political and commercial hubs, and the tardy pace of inoculation.