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India industrial output up but tough times ahead: economists
AFP - Thursday, November 13
NEW DELHI (AFP) - - India's industrial output rose in September as factories bumped up production before the nation's major festival season, but analysts on Wednesday predicted tough times ahead.
More interest rate cuts could come at any time to boost Asia's third-largest economy, which until recently looked like it might escape the brunt of the financial turmoil, they said.
"Further rate action looks certain and could come at any point," said HSBC economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde.
Industrial production grew by 4.8 percent in September, rebounding from a near-decade low of 1.4 percent the previous month.
But output was down from 7.0 percent the same month a year ago as companies cut production in the face of slowing demand and high borrowing costs amid a credit crunch.
The better month-on-month figure "hardly represents cause for celebration" when three-month figures, considered a better measure, show output at 4.5 percent -- the lowest since 2002, Prior-Wandesforde said.
"Production growth looks set to weaken further as the full force of the developed world recession, the lagged effects of previous rate rises and the domestic credit-crunch hit home," he added.
Output could even turn negative as firms work off inventories accumulated in anticipation of October's normally free-spending religious festival season that proved disappointing with lower car and other sales, he said.
The September pickup would be "difficult to sustain" in light of production cuts announced by steel and automobile companies and weakening export demand in sectors like textiles, added Amit Mitra, head of industry body FICCI.
Until recently India believed it would be relatively unharmed by the turmoil thanks to its huge domestic market of 1.1 billion people and small global trade exposure. But a slew of data has shown its economy fast losing steam.
Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, part of the Congress-led government, which faces elections by May 2009 and has been striving to achieve double-digit growth to ease crushing poverty, called the data "encouraging."
But economists disagreed.
"All indicators are showing growing weakness. The central bank will have to continue monetary easing," said Dharma Kriti Joshi, economist at Crisil ratings agency.
After aggressively raising rates to fight double-digit inflation, the bank has changed tack and this month cut its benchmark interest rate for the second time in two weeks to 7.5 percent to stimulate the economy.
Premier Manmohan Singh, who has forecast the economy will grow by 7.0-7.5 percent this fiscal year after expanding by nine percent last year, has vowed the government will "provide all possible assistance" to weather the crisis.
But after a big-spending populist budget, Goldman Sachs economist Tushar Poddar said the government has little fiscal room to spur the economy.
"Large negative global and domestic financial sector shocks will continue to slow activity across the board," said Poddar, who a day earlier cut his growth estimate for the year to March 2009 to 6.7 percent and to 5.8 percent for the next year.
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