Business Confidence in India Improves As Economic Activities and COVID-19 Vaccination Drive Gathers Pace: NCAER Survey

New Delhi, February 8: The business confidence in India has improved as economic activities pick up and vaccination drive gathers pace. A study by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) stated that the NCAER Business Confidence index (BCI) rose 29.6 per cent on a q-o-q basis during the third quarter of FY 2020-21. "The BCI rose further by 29.6 per cent on a q-o-q basis, rising from 65.5 in 2020-21:Q2 to 84.8 in 2020-21:Q3," and NCAER statement said.

The report stated that the business sentiments remained worse than they were during the corresponding period in the previous year. According to a report by IANS, The proportion of respondents expecting that 'overall economic conditions will improve in the next six months' increased by 4.8 percentage points. This was 29.8 percent in 2020-21, Q2 to 34.6 per cent in 2020-21, Q3.

The respondents are also expecting that the 'financial position of firms will improve in the next six months' increased by 3.1 percentage points, from 27.7 per cent in 2020-21, Q2 to 30.8 per cent in 2020-21, Q3, the study reported.

The BCI increased for the consumer durables sector by 26.1 percent on a q-o-q basis in 2020- 21, Q3. For consumer non-durables, it increased by 32 percent, for intermediate goods by 37 per cent, for capital goods by 27 per cent, and for the services sector by 32.5 percent, the report added.