India Inc hasn’t seen much improvement in the current conditions at the economy and firm level, a survey by industry chamber FICCI said.
According to FICCI’s Business Confidence Survey August 2015, there are signs of moderation in the optimism level of corporate India.
FICCI’s Overall Business Confidence Index has slipped to 66.3 in the latest round compared with 73.2 in the previous round. “The decline can be attributed to the slack noted in the perception of the respondents both with respect to current conditions (vis-à-vis the last six months) and near term expectations,” it said.
The survey gauges expectations of respondents from about 130 companies across sectors over the period July to December 2015.
At the economy level, the proportion of respondents citing ‘moderately to substantially better’ performance vis-a-vis the last six months declined to 66 per cent in the present round, from 73 per cent.
While 78 per cent of the respondents said they expected an improved performance at the economy level in the coming six months; the corresponding figure in the last survey was 94 per cent.
However, 43 per cent of the respondents said they expected higher investments over the next six months, an increase compared with 38 per cent in the last round. At the same time, the proportion of respondents anticipating lower investments went up to 9 per cent in the present survey, from three per cent last time.
“Despite the RBI undertaking three rounds of cuts in the repo rate this calendar year, the cost of credit was reported to be a worrisome factor by 58 per cent of the respondents, compared with 55 per cent companies in the previous round,” the survey noted.