Economic growth going to swing upward: Jaitley

NEW DELHI,  Dec 29:  Pointing out that manufacturing had grown by seven per cent in the second quarter of 2017-18, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said all indications in the economy suggested that the growth was on the rise.
The suggestions that the economy had hit the  bottom was not correct, Mr Jaitley said replying to a supplementary question asked by Saugata Roy of the All India Trinamool Congress during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha.
He said an analysis of the  2017-18 quarter  one data showed that the services sector rose by 8.1 per cent which meant that people were making purchases.
Moreover,  manufacturing sector in second quarter grew by seven per cent, he said, adding, however, that some destocking took place because of the announcement that GST would come into force from July 1.
”But  all indications seem to suggest that the curve is going to swing upwards,” he said.
Mr Jaitley gave the figures in answer to Mr Roy’s query as to whether the Government was thinking of giving some financial stimulus to the economy in view of the growth slumping to 5.7 per cent in quarter one of 2017-18.
The Finance Minister said in the light of the current upward swing in growth, the measure suggested by him were not needed.
Answering another query by Moon Moon Sen of the same party, Mr Jaitley said the government was making all efforts for trade facilitation, but admitted that this area needed much more to be done.
On the a question on the job growth during the three-and-a-half year of the NDA government, the Finance Minister said the Government had no data on the creation of employment in the unorganised sector.
(UNI)