India economic activity remains strong, cenbank governor says, amid rising growth concerns
MUMBAI (Reuters) -Economic activity in India remains strong, with the agriculture and services sectors doing well, India's central bank governor said on Wednesday, commenting on fears the Indian economy is slowing.
"Data which is coming in is mixed. But the positives outweigh the negatives and, by and large, underlying activities remain strong," Shaktikanta Das, governor of the Reserve Bank of India, said at an event.
Corporate earnings for the July-September quarter have shown weakness in urban consumption, with fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms reporting flat or declining volume growth.
High-frequency indicators, such as the purchasing managers index for manufacturing and services, slowed in September but rebounded in October.
Das, however, said that he would not "rush to say the Indian economy is slowing".
Last month, the central bank retained its growth forecast for the current financial year at 7.2%.
(Reporting by Siddhi Nayak; writing by Ira Dugal, Editing by Sonia Cheema and Savio D'Souza)