India's second quarter GDP growth slowed sharply to 4.5 per cent, the weakest pace in more than six years, as manufacturing output hit a slump and consumer demand as well as private investment weakened. It took no time to for the Opposition to accuse the Bharatiya Janata Party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of pushing the economy into a coma.
Even netizens took to Twitter to express their dismay through various interesting jokes and memes. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expansion rate moderated from 5 per cent recorded in April-June 2019 and is much weaker than the 7 per cent growth registered in July-September 2018, according to official data released Friday.
The major factor in the GDP fall was manufacturing contracting by 1 per cent. A separate data showed core infrastructure industries' output declining 5.8 per cent in October, the biggest contraction since at least 2005. The GDP growth rate in the second quarter of the current fiscal year (April to March) is the slowest since January-March 2013 and marks six consecutive quarters of slowing growth -- a first since 2012. This despite the Narendra Modi-led government taking several steps -- including slashing corporate taxes, setting up a special real-estate fund, merging banks and announcing the biggest privatization drive ever -- to revive investment climate and bolster economic growth.
But, while the government tries to take steps to mend what’s triggering this worrying economic slowdown, Twitterati are busy expressing their shock with jokes memes.
Here's how Twitterati expressed their shock:
(Inputs from Agencies)
