Indian economy will likely grow at a rate of 4.5 to 5 per cent during the second half of the current financial year, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said.

In its latest survey report, the CII said the economy might have already bottomed out in the previous quarter but it ruled out any possibility of a significant improvement in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in the October-March period of current financial year.

The CII report said, "Recovery process may already be in place, albeit fragile. the survey revealed that the percentage of respondents expecting GDP to grow higher in a range of 5.0-5.5 percent increased sharply from 13 percent in third quarter to 29 percent in fourth quarter."

In the first six months of the current financial year, the country's economy grew 4.6 per cent year-on-year.

The CII also noted that high food inflation, economic uncertainty and soaring borrowing costs hurt consumer demand in particular. CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said the monetary policy should now be directed at stimulating economic growth as inflation has started showing some signs of moderation.

In the April-December period of 2013, the country's exports stood at $230.3 billion, while imports stood at $340.3 billion. This, trade deficit stood at $110 billion.

India's GDP growth in FY2012-13 slipped to its lowest level in a decade, with the previous low of 4 per cent recorded in 2002-03.