New Delhi, May 31: Showing signs of fully coming out of the shadows of demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST), India's GDP for the fourth quarter of 2017-18 grew at 7.7 percent, while for the full financial year 2017-18 it touched 6.7 percent, official data showed here on Thursday.

The GDP growth during the third quarter of the fiscal was at 7 percent. "GDP growth has been increasing continuously every quarter with growth of 7.7 percent in Q4 of 2017-18. Shows that the economy is on the right track & set for even higher growth in the future. This is the Sahi Vikas under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi & @ Arun Jaitley," Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said via Twitter.

"GDP at 2011-12 prices in the fourth quarter (Q4) of the financial year 2017-18 registered growth rate of 7.7 percent as against 5.6 percent , 6.3 percent and 7 percent respectively, in the first three quarters, Q1, Q2 and Q3 of 2017-18, a statement by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said.

Rapid growth in agriculture (4.5 per cent), manufacturing (9.1 per cent) and construction sectors (11.5 per cent) contributed to the overall growth of the GDP, the statement added.

"Q4 was expected to be good and that is reflected in the numbers. The rise in manufacturing and construction sectors indicated a turnaround in the growth story, which will provide a further boost to the economy going forward," Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg told reporters at a press meet while decoding the GDP numbers.

Asked about recent GDP growth downgrading by Moody's from 7.5 percent to 7.3 percent, he said the government would not revise GDP estimate of FY19, which is at 7.5 percent.

Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, who also present at the press meet, said, "the impact of GST is behind us."

At the sectoral level, the growth rate of gross value added (GVA) in Q4 of 2017-18 for agriculture and allied sectors, industry and services sectors was estimated at 4.5 percent, 8.8 percent, and 7.7 percent, respectively. GVA includes taxes but excludes subsidies.

The statement said the sectors which registered growth rate of over 7 percent are 'public administration, defence and other services' (10 percent), ' trade, hotels, transport, communication and services related to broadcasting' (8 percent) and 'electricity, gas, water supply & other utility services' (7.2 percent).

The growth in the 'agriculture, forestry and fishing', 'mining & quarrying', 'manufacturing', 'construction', and 'financial, real estate and professional services' is estimated to be 3.4 percent, 2.9 percent, 5.7 percent, 5.7 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively, the statement said.

It said: "The Gross National Income (GNI) at 2011-12 prices is now estimated at Rs 128.64 lakh crore during 2017-18, as against the previous year's estimate of Rs 120.52 lakh crore. In terms of growth rates, the Gross National Income is estimated to have risen by 6.7 per cent during 2017-18, in comparison to the growth rate of 7.1 percent in 2016-17."

The per capita income in real terms (at 2011-12 prices) during 2017-18 is estimated to have attained a level of Rs 86,668 as compared to Rs 82,229 for the year 2016-17. The growth rate in per capita income is estimated at 5.4 percent during 2017-18, as against 5.7 percent in the previous year.

Reacting to the GDP numbers, secretary general of Assocham, D.S. Rawat, said: "While Indian economy is in cyclical recovery led by both investment and consumption, however, higher oil prices and tighter financial conditions will weigh in on the pace of acceleration." "As India imports over two-thirds of its crude requirement, any surge in crude prices has the potential to upset growth projection," he added

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 31, 2018 10:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).