76th CII Northern Region Business Outlook Survey is a quarterly study conducted to gauge the sentiment in the economy. Earlier the survey was conducted bi-annually, but from the 74th Survey onwards the study is conducted on a quarterly basis in order to get a more frequent indicator of business sentiment. The current survey gives an outlook on business sentiments for the first quarter of 2011-12 as compared to the last quarter of 2010-11.
Key findings of the Survey are:
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62% of the respondents expect GDP growth of 8% or more, reflecting continuous optimism of growth in the economy.
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Expectations of high inflation. 99% of the respondents expect inflation to be 5% or more and 52% of the respondents expect inflation to surpass 8% mark.
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Outlook for the current three months stronger than the actual performance in the last three months.
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The expectations on various elements that build up business confidence viz- Capacity Utilization, Sales, Production, Employment and Pretax profit are all positive.
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Some concern on Input Costs (raw materials, electricity & fuel and wages & salaries), and Cost & availability of Credit.
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Positive sentiment on the export front. Optimism on volume and new orders.
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Top three concern areas are high interest rates, high raw material cost and infrastructural & institutional shortages.