Long road to recovery

Q2 numbers encouraging, but outlook is still fairly uncertain

The Indian economy did better in the second quarter of the fiscal year than what many had estimated, with gross domestic product (GDP) contracting by 7.5 per cent in real terms, compared with a decline of about 24 per cent in the previous quarter. Most analysts were pencilling in a contraction of at least 8 per cent and the final print surprised even the recent optimistic revisions in the market. The smaller than expected decline has now raised hopes of a quicker recovery. Economists at the Reserve Bank of India are expecting GDP to break out of contraction in the