CII’s 118th edition of the quarterly Business Outlook Survey indicates a slight moderation in business confidence for the Jan-Mar quarter as the CII Business Confidence Index (CII- BCI) eased to the level of 65.0, down from 66.8 recorded in the previous quarter, given the heightened geo-political risks as the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalated significantly during the quarter.
With regards to the domestic growth, most of the respondents (55 percent) have indicated that they foresee India’s GDP growth in the range of 7.5%-8.5% during FY23.
Inflation expectations remain high with 70 percent of the respondents anticipating an increase in retail inflation during FY23 over FY22.
Majority of the respondents (58 percent) have revealed that this year’s Union Budget met or exceeded their expectations and a similar proportion (56 percent) anticipate a positive impact of these announcement on private investments as well.
With regards to the company prospects, while two thirds of the respondents foresee a continued uptrend in sales during the current quarter, a majority of them (71 percent respondents) anticipate a simultaneous increase in raw material costs.