NEW DELHI: India posted faster-than-expected quarterly economic growth of 4.8 percent, boosted by robust farm output, spurring hopes that an end to the country’s prolonged downturn may be in sight.
The official data for the second financial quarter to September beat market forecasts of 4.6 percent growth and topped the 4.4 percent expansion India logged in the previous three months.
“Indian GDP growth appears to be bottoming out,” said Miguel Chanco, Asia economist for research house Capital Economics.
But “India’s road to recovery will be slow and bumpy,” he said.
The figure marked the fourth quarter in a row that India’s growth has been below five percent.
Expansion has fallen sharply from the heady nearly double-digit growth that the country enjoyed just two years ago.
Still, the figures were a welcome respite for the scandal-tarred Congress party-led government, which is desperate to nurse the economy back to health before general elections due by May.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said India’s economy is going through a “period of stress” but “we are confident of coming out of it and returning to the high growth path.”
He forecast India’s economic growth would rebound to six percent next year and seven percent the following year.
Economists credited the improved July-to-September quarterly performance to higher farm output from the best monsoon in half a dozen years.
Agriculture output climbed in the quarter by a robust 4.6 percent from a year earlier.
But India’s rural hinterland accounts for just one-third of gross domestic product and is insufficient to pull the nation’s economy out of its rut on its own, economists said.
Manufacturing output expanded by a tepid one percent, but better than the April-June quarter when it shrank by 1.2 percent.
Hopes of a big increase in production for India’s religious festival season in October, when it is considered auspicious to buy everything from cars to gold to appliances, failed to materialize this year.
Growth fell to a decade-low of five percent in the fiscal year to March 2013.
The government has forecast around 5.0-5.5 percent expansion this financial year.
But most private economists believe India’s growth may be below five percent for the first time since 2003.
Tight fiscal policy and two recent interest rate hikes to curb stubbornly high inflation “will impact recovery in coming quarters,” Barclays economist Siddhartha Sanyal said ahead of the data.
With inflation still stubbornly high at seven percent, Goldman Sachs has forecast more interest rate hikes, which would keep growth subdued.
The investment house predicts the central bank’s new governor, Raghuram Rajan, will hike India’s benchmark lending rate to 8.5 percent next year from its current 7.75 percent.
Rajan has made a top priority of tackling inflation that has been fueled by a host of factors from costlier imports to supply bottlenecks in India’s antiquated industrial and distribution sectors.
Chidambaram, meanwhile, has said he is intent on cutting the fiscal deficit to a six-year low of 4.8 percent of gross domestic product this financial year, implying a row back in public spending that would dampen growth.
India economy posts surprise 4.8 percent growth
India economy posts surprise 4.8 percent growth
Saudi Arabia’s pop-up retail boom is just getting started
- Positive outlook, operators and experts tell Arab News
- Sector is forecast to contribute 35% to GDP by 2030
RIYADH: Short-term retail concepts are gathering pace across Saudi Arabia’s consumer market, with over 1.5 million small and medium enterprises operating in the Kingdom.
It is forecast they will increase their contribution to the country’s gross domestic product from 20 percent to 35 percent by the end of this decade.
The pop-up scene and experiential retail market, which is present in the food and beverages sector and has extended to the fashion and accessory space, has an estimated value of $1.2 billion across the GCC, according to Ken Research.
As this niche sector of retail booms, Ken Research points to Saudi Arabia as one of the top three key markets driving growth.
While pop-ups have long been used internationally as a social media marketing concept, their growing presence in the Kingdom can be traced back to a larger shift in the retail ecosystem as a whole.
For many entrepreneurs, pop-ups offer a way to leverage their brand’s creative identity, reach new customers, and build a presence through the trend without the financial constraints of a permanent retail store.
The niche trend offers tenancy flexibility, allows companies to bypass cyclical nature of economies, provides them with price flexibility — proving to be a malleable entryway for businesses.
The rise of flash business retail concepts also reflects broader changes in the Kingdom’s entrepreneurial landscape, as SMEs continue to expand under the economic diversification goals of Vision 2030.
About 38 percent of active commercial registrations by the end of Q2 2025 were youth owned, signaling an emphasis on trendy approaches to retail, according to Monshaat, the Kingdom’s Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority.
Additionally, around 25,000 new commercial registrations were issued in the wholesale and retail sector in the fourth quarter of 2025.
In the fashion and accessory sectors, for example, the pivot to the ephemeral retail model offers a unique customer experience.
It is driving demand through limited edition pop-ups that play on aesthetics and interactive tactical commerce, all while maintaining limited risk and increased support for smaller enterprises to leverage accessible spaces.
A particular destination that has made space for pop-ups is Riyadh’s Solitaire mall, on its roof.
The outdoor venue hosts booths of diverse sectors, all bringing creative and hands-on retail experiences that are maximizing temporary spaces through the power of brand direction and social media.
As founder of one of the largest pop-ups taking space on the roof, Aya Alhalek, founder of SNIM, known as the first outlet for local attire brands in the Kingdom, spoke to Arab News on the rise of pop-up culture, its importance in the retail space, and the benefits of its growing relevance.
Alhalek said: “We choose pop-ups because there’s always a demand for them, because it brings together different designers and different brands, providing the customer with diverse options whether it’s a British brand or an Indian brand, they are combined in one pop-up.”
“I think this trend is here to stay.”
Companies such as SNIM, which prioritize local brand presence throughout the Kingdom, say the format has become an important entry point for emerging brands looking to gain exposure and that the concept is here to stay due to the customer experience and profitability.
Pop-ups are not constrained by the dynamic change of weather in the Kingdom, but rather encouraged to alter temporary installation experiences accordingly and depending on the city, Alhalek said.
“We always have either indoor or outdoor options, and so they differ greatly in terms of winter or summer pop-ups but we adjust accordingly and keep them going but Riyadh is a global hub,” she said.
She added that “the limited time, space and social media marketing of pop-ups helps keep these going.”
Riyadh, in particular, has been a priority due to its ability to attract diverse and international customers to the SNIM pop-ups, which helps platform local brands on a global scale, Alhalek added.
On the preference to lean into pop-up style retail alongside online availability as opposed to brick-and-mortar locations, Rasha AlWazeenani, founder of Nayya Jewellery, told Arab News: “Pop-ups usually bring together a mix of different brands, not just jewelry.”
“Someone might visit to shop for an abaya or another product and end up discovering our pieces along the way. That element of unexpected discovery has introduced our brand to many customers who may not have initially come specifically for jewelry.”
Pop-ups nurture interactive customer experiences which are increasingly relevant to shoppers and the temporary feature of a venture creates a sense of urgency, AlWazeenani said.
“They provide visibility, allow direct interaction with customers, and create an opportunity for people to experience the craftsmanship and details of the pieces up close,” she said.
“The temporary formatting of pop-ups also allows brands to create urgency around limited collections or seasonal launches, which can drive higher customer engagement.”
Analysts also view the pop-up scene as an opportunity for company growth amid the uptick in online shopping and the Kingdom’s expanding economy, the largest in the Arab world.
Mahmoud Mazi, general manager of the retail sector at the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority, told Arab News the “growth of e-commerce has expanded purchasing channels.”
And this has been “prompting many SMEs to adopt more flexible strategies such as testing markets more quickly or combining a digital presence with physical retail spaces.”
Developers are leaning towards more flexible retail models for various factors and increasingly in major cities, Mazi said.
“Seasonal events are encouraging some property owners and developers to adopt more flexible leasing models, such as short-term rentals or retail kiosks,” Mazi said.
He added that the “growth of experiential and interactive retail has made combining entertainment, dining and cultural activities, with flexible leasable spaces and temporary retail concepts an “attractive operational tool for SMEs.”
The rise and evolution of pop-ups in the Kingdom invariably allows for scaling, evolution, and concept-testing within the retail industry.
The Kingdom’s retail sector continues to expand and the pop-up experiential trend has broadened to focus on lifestyle and entertainment concepts within mixed developments.
This was “redefining market dynamics, including tenant mix and the design of commercial spaces,” Mazi said.
