Indian Economy Faces Slowdown

In the last few weeks, public focus in India was largely on the anti corruption crusade led by Anna Hazare. Debates have been raging on how exactly corruption can be solved, and peaceful protests have sprung up all over the country. Social media was used as a medium for the news spreading in the public consciousness.

However, there may be other problems that may be far more imperative, such as the news of the economy slowing down. The slow down of economic growth in India was announced recently.

The Reserve Bank of India, the central bank of the country has given a warning that may seem pretty blunt – growth of the Indian economy could slow down to less than 8 per cent. The news was released on Thurs, when the Indian government was in negotiation with Anna Hazare, the fasting anti corruption activist.

A growth rate of 7 per cent would still be considered good for most countries, but for India, the case is pretty different. Prior to the financial crisis of 2008, the country was striding at a growth rate of 9 per cent. The numbers hit 8.5 last year. The news of the slowdown to less than 8 per cent is a letdown that is quite significant. A slowdown in growth would mean all the bad things – fewer Indians getting out of poverty, and greater social unrest spurred.

Globally the slowdown could mean another set back to the world economy at large, since growing markets like China and India are being increasingly depended on to compensate the stagnation in the west.