MUMBAI: India’s economy grew by 6.5 percent in the fiscal year that ended in March, official data showed on Friday, among the world’s top performers but still sluggish compared with its recent track record.
Gross domestic product rose at its slowest pace in four years, with growth coming in well below the 9.2 percent recorded in the previous financial year.
The world’s most populous nation grappled with a weaker manufacturing sector, tight monetary policy and muted urban consumer sentiment for most of the past year.
While the economy has rebounded over the past two quarters, helped in part by strong agricultural output, US President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz poses risks to a sustained recovery.
New Delhi, which was slapped with 26 percent so-called reciprocal tariffs, is currently negotiating a trade deal with Washington that it hopes will spare it the worst of Trump’s trade push.
“Although India is expected to see its GDP grow 6.5 percent again in fiscal year 2025-26, there remains a great deal of uncertainty due to Trump’s tariff policies,” said Sam Jochim, an economist at EFG Asset Management.
