Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a mega-merger of public sector banks. The announcement was made in a conference by her on Friday.  Last week also she announced measures to boost the economy, that included the merger of 10 public sector banks into four entities. Sitharaman’s press conference was held shortly before the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth numbers were released showing an economy that was growing poorly. The GDP growth of the first quarter of 2019-20 dropped to 5% from 5.8% last quarter.
GDP growth in the first quarter of 2019-20 fell was 5 per cent. This was a sharp drop of 0.8 per cent point compared to the previous quarter’s 5.8 per cent growth. The GDP numbers, which are the worst in the last five years, saying that the Indian economy is growing through a serious downturn.
India’s GDP growth slips to a 6-year low of 5% in the April-June quarter
India’s economy grew by 5 per cent in the April-June quarter, down from 5.8 per cent in the previous quarter, according to GDP data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Friday. Registering a continuous downward spiral, the GDP growth for the first quarter of FY20 has been slowest in more than six years. The previous low in GDP growth was recorded at 4.3 per cent in the January-March quarter of 2012-13.
The government in a statement said, “GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in Q1 of 2019-20 has estimated at Rs 35.85 lakh crore, as against Rs 34.14 lakh crore in Q1 of 2018-19, showing a growth rate of 5.0 per cent.”
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