India’s GDP grew by 6.3 percent in this year’s third quarter, compared to 13.5 percent in the preceding three months when COVID restrictions were relaxed.

A 4.3-percent decline in third-quarter factory output, compared to the same quarter in 2021, accounted for much of this year’s three-month slump, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Globally, retailers are overstocked with goods and consumers are tending to buy less stuff as inflation picks their pockets. As a result, factories in India and elsewhere are receiving fewer orders.

However, India’s consumer spending strengthened beginning in September, which marks the beginning of the country’s festival season.

Still, “manufacturers did not see demand to be substantial enough to crank up their activities to meet higher festival demand,” economist Kundal Kundu told the WSJ. “That was a reflection that business is not very sure of the strength of the recovery.”

Consumer prices inflated by 6.7 percent in October, according to the National Statistics Office, marking the 10^th consecutive month that prices have grown more than the Bank of India’s 6-percent targeted annual limit.

India’s jobs market also remains weak, with the economy supporting 12 million fewer workers than before the COVID era.

The International Monetary Fund has cut its expectation for India’s economic growth during the country’s current fiscal year, dropping it to 6.8 percent from the previous forecast of 7.4 percent.

India’s GDP expanded by 8.7 percent in its fiscal year that ended 31 March.

TREND FORECAST: India’s economy will grow strong as multinational tech, auto, prescription drug companies, etc. leave China and move into India for cheaper labor and less political pressure exerted upon them by the U.S. and EU. Seeing where it is heading, India’s stock market hit a record high this month as expectations for robust economic growth keeps rising. 

As for their population, many people with jobs are still struggling under reduced wages imposed during the COVID War that have yet to be raised back up and rising food and fuel prices will hamper middle-class expansion.