India's economy defied expectations on Tuesday to retain the title of the world's fastest-growing major economy, despite the pain caused by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's shock cash crackdown.



Gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to an annual 7.0 percent in October-December from 7.4 percent the previous quarter. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 6.4 percent growth rate. India's growth was higher than China's 6.8 percent for the last three months of 2016.

The federal statistics office retained its growth forecast for the fiscal year ending in March 2017 at 7.1 percent.