GDP to grow 4% in Q1: BoAML

Foreign brokerage company Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BoAML) on Thursday pegged the first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth at four per cent.

The official GDP numbers will be released on Friday evening.

In its report, the company said, "We continue to expect downgrades to GDP and earnings growth. In a stress case scenario, we could see GDP growth at four per cent'', said BoAML. The GDP grew at 4.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2012-13

Earlier, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had also said the first quarter GDP growth would remain more or less flat. "Growth slowed down to five per cent in 2012-13 and we expect the growth trend will remain flattish in the first quarter, but even so, we are in better health than many other countries in the world," Chidambaram had said.

The research and analysis wing of Moody's, the global rating agency had on Monday projected that the Indian economy will grow at 4.5 per cent in the first quarter (April-June) of 2013-14.