Sharp rise in valuables purchase pushed up India's GDP growth in Q2

In absolute terms, purchase of valuables was just Rs 17,012 crore during the Q1, FY22

Owing to their ability to hedge against inflation, people bought gold, precious stones and art works at a brisk pace during the second quarter (Q2) of 2021-22. 

This played a crucial part in jacking up the gross domestic product (GDP) growth. A section of economists say that this indicates the pain the informal economy went through in the quarter but was masked by the headline GDP growth at 8.4 per cent. 

These items, called valuables in the national accounts data, crossed the Rs 1-trillion mark even after adjusting for inflation during the second quarter of the current fiscal year. This happened for