Indiase productie kent groeispurt na renteverlaging

India’s industrial output in March expanded at the fastest pace in five months after the central bank eased interest rates to revive economic growth. Production (INPIINDY) at factories, utilities and mines climbed 2.5 percent from a year earlier after a revised 0.5 percent gain in February, the Central Statistical Office said in a statement in New Delhi today. The median of 26 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 2.4 percent gain.

The Reserve Bank of India has cut interest rates three times in 2013 to help revive an economy that expanded at the weakest pace in a decade last year, extending the only reduction in borrowing costs this year in the major emerging nations of the BRIC group that include China, Russia and Brazil. Moderating investment, an extended fight against inflation and a drop in exports have hurt growth in Asia’s No. 3 economy.

“Economic activity is still soft,” said Shubhada Rao, chief economist at Yes Bank Ltd. in Mumbai. “We are looking at another quarter point cut, most likely in June, as macroeconomic conditions improve and support a reduction.”