SBI projects Q2 GDP growth of 5.8%, lower than other agencies’ estimates
The HinduThe Indian economy is likely to clock a GDP growth of just 5.8% in the second quarter of this year, State Bank of India economists have estimated in a report. Consensus estimates are at 6.1%,” the author, group chief economic adviser Soumya Kanti Ghosh, noted in the report The bank’s own nowcasting model, which uses 30 high-frequency indicators and machine learning-based artificial neural networks, pegs GDP growth for Q2 at 5.8%. “Q2 Manufacturing sector growth is likely be weak on the back of margin compression,” SBI said, pointing to a 14% year-on-year decline in earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation during the quarter among corporates outside the banking and financial services space. “Growth impulses continue to be strong and it may be better to look through the GDP headline numbers for a couple of quarters before arriving at a definitive conclusion about the growth trajectory,” he concluded.