Economy is recovering, at least that is what industry seems to believe with the business community expressing more confidence about the economic growth for fourth quarter this year compared to the previous quarter, as per financial research firm Dun & Bradstreet (D&B).
The business optimist index, by D&B has grown by 8.4 per cent to 143.2 points from 132.1 points for the October-December quarter.
This index, according to the firm, recorded an increase of 3 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter against a decline of 3.3 in Q3 2009.
The index measures the pulse of the business community for the coming quarter across six sectors in the country.
The impact of a global slowdown is receding fast as industrial production has shown a strong growth for the second month in a row. After growing at 8.2 per cent in June over the same month last year, the index for industrial production (IIP) went up by 6.8 per cent in July.
Meanwhile, the agency also pointed out that the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary stance in the coming mid-term policy will also be a critical factor in deciding the business expectations.
"Going forward, the RBI's monetary policy stance in the forthcoming mid-term policy review will be crucial in determining business expectations over the next quarter," said D&B – India Chief Operating Officer Kaushal Sampat.
Also, the impact of poor monsoon on the agriculture sector's performance and consequently on industrial activity would play a key role in shaping business sentiment in the near future, Sampat said.
According to the index the business community is optimistic about the its net profits stands — optimism rose by 66 per cent, an increase of around 7 percentage points as compared to the previous quarter.
Besides, the optimism for selling prices increased by 23 per cent, a marginal improvement over 22 in the previous quarter while the positive pulse for new orders stands at 77 per cent, up around 8 percentage points compared to Q3 2009.
