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News that GDP growth has slowed considerably to 5.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011-12, as compared with 9.2 per cent in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, could not have come at a worse time for the government. While quarterly GDP estimates tend to be revised substantially, the evidence that the GDP growth rate has been consistently declining over the four quarters of the last financial year and that the fourth quarter rate is the lowest in nine years makes it imperative for the government to respond.