As it turns out, India’s official GDP data probably overstated growth by as much as 2.5 percentage points between 2011-12 and 2016-17. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government have all along been focusing on taming inflation when actually it was growth that needed attention. Imagine the economy as a slow-moving car being steered by our policymakers, blinkered in the absence of accurate data. More importantly, the credibility of Indian data is at stake. If the air is not cleared soon, then it won’t be long before India is counted among the countries that dress up data to make their economies look good.

Source: Mint June 11, 2019 18:00 UTC