CII’s 119th edition of the quarterly Business Outlook Survey indicates a recovery in business sentiment among the respondents as the CII Business Confidence Index (CII- BCI) for the Apr-Jun quarter edged up to the level of 66.9, from the level of 65 recorded in the previous quarter.
Half of the respondents believe that GDP growth will range between 7.5% to 8.5% during FY23 as inflation is expected to remain high for a majority of this year.
While central bank is widely expected to raise rates this year, only one fourth of the respondents feel that the interest rate hike would help ease inflationary pressures while a major proportion of them expect this move to raise credit cost.
Slightly more than half of the respondents feel that global oil prices will remain close to the similar levels during the next three months and a majority of them have indicated the need for government action to reduce the tax burden on fuel prices. That said, rising input costs have been cited as the biggest risk to business sentiment, over the next six months, by nearly half of the respondents.
With regards to the company prospects, a little more than half of the respondents continue to foresee an improvement in sales and new orders during the Apr-Jun quarter. However, profits are expected to be hit as majority of the respondents expect a broad-based uptick in input costs. Nonetheless, it is encouraging to note that almost half of the respondents foresee an improvement in job creation within their companies during the quarter.