India to see 6.1% economic growth this year: UN

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific on Thursday pegged India’s economic growth in 2012 at a 10-year low of 5.5 per cent, owing to slackening demand and investment, high interest rates and politcial gridlock. The economy grew at a three-year low of 5.3 per cent in the first quarter, 5.5 per cent in the second and again by 5.3 per cent in the third quarter, yielding 5.35 per cent expansion in the first nine months of 2012. The UN body projected India’s economy to grow 6.1 per cent in 2013. Though this would be higher than the growth in 2012, it would be lower than the commission’s previous forecast of 7.2 per cent by 1.1 percentage points.