The NSO estimates the GDP growth for the whole fiscal at 5 per cent. The gross domestic product data released on Friday showed consumer demand, private investment and exports all struggling, while higher government spending and an improvement in rural demand lent support.

The annual GDP figure for the September quarter was ramped up from an earlier estimate of 4.5%, while the April-June reading was similarly lifted to 5.6% from 5.0%, data released by the Ministry of Statistics showed on Friday.

The government took several steps earlier this month to try to bolster economic growth, including increasing state spending on infrastructure. But many economists expect the impact of those efforts to be outweighed by the global fallout from the coronavirus epidemic that began in China. Core sector grew by 2.2% in January as power generation has picked up.