Economic activity slowed down in the September quarter, know what the survey says

In the July-September quarter of the current financial year, the dynamism in economic activity remained intact. But its pace seemed to be slowing down. This assessment has been presented in a survey report. According to the ‘NCAER-NSE Business Expectations Survey’, after two consecutive quarters of improvement, the business sentiment came down to 134.3 in the second quarter of FY 2024-25, which is lower than the first quarter (149.8) as well as the same quarter of last year (140.7). The survey report says, “All four components of the Business Confidence Index (BCI) experienced a slight softening in sentiment between the first and second quarters of the current financial year. However, the share of positive responses remained well above 50 percent, indicating continued economic dynamism.”

Companies were expected to improve.

According to the report, in the September quarter, 62.1 percent of companies expected that the overall economic situation would improve in the next six months. While 58 percent of companies expected their financial situation to improve in the same period. During the period under review, companies used 96.3 percent of their capacity which is close to or more than the optimum level.

493 companies participated in the survey

The report says that sentiments about exports of finished products remain encouraging. However, a relatively small number of companies expect it to increase in the next six months. The survey, conducted in September 2024, covered 493 companies from six cities across all four regions of the country.