TOPIC – Fleeting cheer
The latest GDP estimates expectedly show that national output rebounded in Q1 of the current fiscal from the record contraction in April June 2020, when the pandemic’s onset and the lockdown gutted the economy. National Statistical Office data show GDP expanded 20.1% from a year earlier, as every one of the eight industries spanning the broad agriculture, manufacturing and services categories posted positive growth. And gross value added, which aggregates output from all the eight sectors, grew by 18.8%. The numbers, however, show a different picture when compared with either the preceding quarter or the pre-pandemic first quarter of fiscal 201920. GDP at constant prices was estimated at ₹32.38lakh crore, a 16.9% contraction from January March’s ₹38.96lakh crore and more than 9% shy of the ₹35.66lakh crore in April June 2019. That the second COVID19 wave extracted a significant toll is evident. With the exceptions of electricity and other utility services and the noncontact intensive services grouping of financial, real estate and professional services, all other six industries posted double digit quarter on quarter contractions. On the expenditures front, private consumption spending flattered to deceive, posting year on year growth of 19.3% but still shrinking by 17.4% from the preceding three months. And most disconcertingly, government consumption expenditure, which has invariably in the past helped shore up the economy, contracted 4.8% from a year earlier and 7.6% from the previous quarter. Looking ahead rather than in the rearview mirror, there have been signs of some traction in the current quarter as most States have gradually eased their localized second wave restrictions. Exports have been one of the bright spots as the U.S. and other western economies have ramped up vaccinations and posted economic recoveries that have underpinned demand for goods and services from India. And manufacturing has surged almost 50% year on year to be just under ₹24,000 crore short of the April June 2019 output level. A fact borne out by the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index from IHS Markit, whose August release shows the sector, experienced a second straight month of increase in production, albeit at a slower pace than July. Still, the same PMI survey also points to the challenges ahead. Rising raw material costs have been forcing manufacturers to either absorb the impact or raise prices, as several automakers have done, risking the prospect of dampening the already tenuous demand. And lingering uncertainty has led companies to yet again freeze hiring, according to IHS Markit. With monsoon rains in deficit, agricultural output and wider rural consumption also face a likely downturn. Policy makers must remain laser focused on expediting vaccination coverage and taking fiscal measures to ensure overall consumption demand does not weaken any further.
The Hindu Editorial Words with meanings, synonyms, and antonyms
Rebounded (verb) – Recover in value, amount, or strength after a decrease or decline
Synonyms – Recoiled, reverberated, caromed, reentered, abjured
Antonyms – Ascended, relapse, vandalize, wither, impair
Extracted (verb) – Remove or take out, especially by effort or force
Synonyms – Mined, excavated, educed, wrest, distill
Antonyms – Enclose, insert, repulse, introduced, fasten
Deceive (verb) – Cause someone to believe an untruth
Synonyms – Hoodwink, delude, bamboozle, swindle, hoax
Antonyms – Disillusion, unveil, aggravate, avow, annoy
Disconcertingly (adverb) – In a disturbing or embarrassing manner
Synonyms – Bewilderingly, bafflingly, perplex, discomfit, blurredly
Antonyms – Tranquilly, consolingly, rosily, soothingly, pleasedly
Traction (noun) – Attraction
Synonyms – Adhesion, strain, tugging, haulage, tautness
Antonyms – Repulsion, chemise, devilry, elusion, gaucherie
Ramped (verb) – Drive up the price of in order to gain a financial advantage
Synonyms – Upreared, graded, chuted, tarmacked, bumped
Antonyms – Dry, horizontal, vertical, straightened, worked hard
Prospect (noun) – The possibility of future success
Synonyms – Expectation, aspect, prognosis, potential, scenery
Antonyms – Adversity, retrospect, nostalgia, improbability, past
Dampening (noun) – The act of making something slightly wet
Synonyms – Moistening, deadening, stifle, quench, muffle
Antonyms – Begetting, catalyzing, effectuating, inducing, spawning
Tenuous (adjective) – Lacking substance or significance
Synonyms – Flimsy, fragile, slender, attenuated., dubious
Antonyms – Appalling, awful, catered, crammed, dreadful
