New Delhi, Nov 27 (IANS) Even though the gross domestic product (GDP) growth might have slowed, the country had not entered a recessionary phase, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Wednesday.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha during a debate on the state of economy, Sitharaman said the economy needed a lot of support and every step taken by the government was for its development.

Regarding the high NPAs (non-performing assets) in the banking sector, she said it started increasing after the lenders begun recognising bad loans.

Provisioning for bad loans didn't mean "writing-off" these NPAs, she added.

--IANS rrb-rv/vd/pcj