Biz optimism for July-September falls 10.7% amid continued slowdown in consumption

Business optimism for the July-September quarter in India decreased by 10.7 per cent amid continued slowdown in consumption and investment demand, says a report.

The Dun & Bradstreet Composite Business Optimism Index stood at 70 during Q3 (July-September) 2019, registering a decrease of 10.7 per cent as compared to Q2 (April-June) 2019.

"Heightened concerns related to the extended slowdown in the domestic economy and weakening of global economic activity might have weighed upon the optimism levels of businesses," said Manish Sinha, Managing Director – India, Dun & Bradstreet.

As per the report, optimism for net profits stood at 66 per cent, registering a decrease of 3 percentage points as compared to Q2 2019, while optimism for new orders stood at 57 per cent - a fall of 6 percentage points as compared to Q2 2019.

Meanwhile, optimism for volume of sales stood at 65 per cent - down 9 percentage points as compared to the second quarter of this year.

"Multiple issues like crisis in the NBFC segment, rural distress, subdued lending to the micro and small firms, problems in the automobile and aviation sectors and rising trade barriers are imposing constraints to growth," Sinha said; adding that going ahead, businesses are not expecting a revival in demand in the near term.

The Dun & Bradstreet Composite Business Optimism Index measures the pulse of the business community and serves as a reliable benchmark for investors. It is arrived at on the basis of a quarterly survey of business expectations.