Economic affairs secretary Tarun Bajaj on Friday said the second quarter GDP figure was much better than market expectations and the economy will further improve its performance in the second half of the fiscal.

The economy contracted 7.5 per cent in the second quarter of the fiscal against a 23.9 per cent contraction in the first quarter.

“So we are positive. We are cautiously optimistic on the economic front. And we are hoping that our third and fourth quarter performances will be far better than the second quarter,” Bajaj said at the Ficci meeting.