Two years lost

Second wave damped hopes of recovery in Q1

The National Statistical Office, under the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, has released estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2021-22. The headline year-on-year growth numbers, as the press note states, are “unduly high due to the low base”. It should be remembered that the equivalent quarter of the previous year, April to June 2020, was marked by a nationwide lockdown to control the spread of Covid-19, which caused a sharp and unprecedented decrease in output of over 24 per cent (at constant prices) as compared to the first quarter of 2019-20. The April-June