New Delhi, May 2 (IANS): The expected firming up of government consumption expenditure in Q4 of 2018-19 is on course as growth in cumulative revenue expenditure of the Central government has been higher in recent months, said the March report of Finance Ministry.

Though fixed investment as percentage of GDP has been trending up since 2017-18, this trend may pause for a while, also evident in slowing down of growth in non-food bank credit in Q4 of 2018-19, the report added.

Growth in gross value added (GVA) in agriculture has been slowing since Q1 of 2018-19 and may continue to fall in Q4 as well; moderation in food deflation may soften this decline towards the end of the year, it observed.

Expansion of GVA in industry in 2018-19 will be higher than in the previous year, thereby overcoming the effect of the slowing down of IIP growth in recent months, said the monthly economic report.

Growth of GVA in services has been robust in 2018-19, as evident in PMI services which remained above 50 throughout the year, it observed.

GVA is the measure of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy.