The number put out by the National Statistical Office (NSO) raised a flutter since economists had forecast that industrial output would grow 1.86 per cent during the month. The overall IIP growth during the April-August period was 2.4 per cent, down from 5.3 per cent in the corresponding period of the last fiscal. Consumer durables’ output also shrank by 9.1 per cent in August 2019 against a 5.5 per cent growth in the same month of 2018. The “intermediate goods” sector, however, showed a healthy growth of 7 per cent, up from 2.9 per cent in the year-ago month. In terms of industries, 15 of the 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector showed a negative growth during August 2019 compared with the corresponding month of the previous year.

Source: The Telegraph October 12, 2019 00:56 UTC