Economics
India Has Been Accused of Overstating Its Growth Statistics
Gross domestic product figures and unemployment data are vulnerable to political manipulation.
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India was until recently the fastest-growing major economy in the world, clocking annual rates of 7% or more and sparking predictions that it would soon overtake the likes of the U.K. and Germany.
Now it looks like that rapid pace may have been overstated. An academic paper by a former chief economic adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi estimates annual growth averaged closer to 4.5% a year in the fiscal years from 2011-12 through 2016-17, and says recent changes to the way gross domestic product is measured are problematic.