Not surprised at 2.4% IIP: Arun Singh, Dun & Bradstreet India

NEW DELHI: The Index of Industrial Production ( IIP) for the month of January did not come as a surprise for Arun Singh, Senior Economist, Dun & Bradstreet India.

"2.4% is not a big surprise to me. We were expecting close to 2%," said Arun Singh. "We are in a slowdown mode and this is likely to continue for another 6 months. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has taken initiatives for rate cut and this is a big time for them to continue that initiatives, he told ET Now.

"Till June-July IIP number, overall GDP number and most of the macroeconomic numbers which show the recovery of the economy are likely to remain subdued and this is a phase of consolidation," the economist added.

IIP for the month of January expanded at 2.4% versus a contraction of (-) 0.6% in December. The April-January IIP rose 1% versus 3.04 year-on-year.

The production in mining sector of the economy continued to contract at (-)2.9% versus (-)4% in December. The manufacturing growth improved to 2.7% versus (-) 0.7% in December.

Non-durable goods growth came in at 5.3% versus (-)1.4% and intermediate goods growth stood at 2% versus (-)0.1% in December.