Biz confidence up in Q1: CII Survey

New Delhi The CII Business Confidence Index rose to 66.1 in April-June from 64 in the previous quarter, reflecting the positive momentum in a host of high frequency indicators such as GST collection and air and rail passenger traffic.

Majority of the over 180 firms surveyed in the Business Outlook Survey (63%) expect India’s GDP growth to be 6-7 per cent in the current fiscal, decelerating from 7.2 per cent in the previous year, attributing it to global headwinds and uncertainties.

“It is important for the RBI to stick with a pause on the interest rate to preserve the growth impulses. This was emphasised in the survey results, as 53 per cent of the respondents expected the RBI to maintain status quo on the key interest rates in the first half of the current fiscal,” CII stated.

Notably, 65 per cent respondents are of the view that the fresh sightings in private investment will be sustained in the current fiscal. There are several factors which are driving private capex such as deleveraged corporate balance sheets, which has in turn increased the capacity of the corporates to invest once there is clear visibility on demand, CII stated. The survey results also show that 62 per cent of respondents expect muted global growth and geo-political turbulence as the key business concerns in the current fiscal.

Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said: “The positive momentum seen in CII Business Confidence Index in the first quarter of the current fiscal is encouraging and reiterates the on-ground experience of most of the industry players. The improvement in demand has translated into an improvement in capacity utilisation in many sectors which will lend further impetus to private capex this year.