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The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Thursday said that the Quarter 4 GDP figures have reconfirmed the CII’s own estimates, which show that the economy is in the throes of a serious slowdown and is performing worse than perception. In a statement on the GDP, Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said: " At 6.5 percent growth, the GDP in 2011-12 has grown at lower than the crisis period growth of 6.7 percent. With a huge fiscal deficit and a widening current account deficit, this calls for immediate and bold actions from the government and the RBI (Reserve Bank of India ) in a coordinated manner, which should be exclusively aimed at salvaging the economy." He further said: "Repo rate and CRR cuts are called for as also measures from the Government to kick start the investment cycle, since growth in capital formation has been negative for the last few months. The Government of India and state governments have to work in tandem to ensure that major projects that are help up are put under implementation mode within one month." "Accelerated depreciation has to be considered to ensure that companies are induced to invest. In short a comprehensive “Economic Revival Package” has to be announced at the earliest. CII hopes that the political leadership in the country, across party lines would converge on this issue of national interest and actions would be swift and decisive," Banerjee concluded.

Indian economy in throes of serious slowdown: CII