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Date : Feb 08, 2023
Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey for Q3:2022-23

Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of 35th round of its quarterly services and infrastructure outlook survey (SIOS) conducted during Q3:2022-23. This forward-looking survey1 captures qualitative assessment and expectations of Indian companies in the services and infrastructure sectors on a set of business parameters relating to demand conditions, price situation and other business conditions. In the latest round of the survey, 1,091 companies provided their assessment for Q3:2022-23 and expectations for Q4:2022-23 as well as outlook on key parameters for the subsequent two quarters.

Highlights:

A. Services Sector

Assessment for Q3:2022-23

  • Services sector enterprises assessed improvement in overall business situation and their turnover during Q3:2022-23; respondents were especially optimistic on employment and availability of finance (Chart 1 and Table A).

  • Higher pressure stemming from cost of finance and salary outgo was assessed during Q3:2022-23; sentiments on input cost pressures recorded marginal moderation.

  • Service companies assessed improvement in their pricing power in terms of selling prices and profit margins during Q3:2022-23.

Expectations for Q4:2022-23

  • Respondents continue to be optimistic on overall business situation and their own turnover during Q4:2022-23; the level of optimism, however, moderated when compared with a higher net response in the previous quarter. (Chart 1 and Table A).

  • Job landscape is likely to expand further in services sector for both full time and part time employees.

  • Service companies expect similar cost pressures on sequential basis and polled for higher growth in both selling prices and profit margins during Q4:2022-23.

Expectations for Q1:2023-24 and Q2:2023-24

  • Respondents remain optimistic on the services sector business conditions for the first half of 2023-24 (Table C).

  • In tandem, job scenario is also expected to improve in ensuing quarters.

  • Input cost pressure is likely to continue and selling prices are likely to rise during H1:2023-24.

Chart 1: Turnover of Services Companies -Net Response

B. Infrastructure Sector

Assessment for Q3:2022-23

  • Infrastructure companies gauged sharp uptick in overall business situation and turnover (Chart 2 and Table B).

  • Respondents assessed notable improvement in both full-time and part-time employment conditions, resulting in higher salary outgo.

  • Selling prices are assessed to have risen in the face of cost pressures in the sector during Q3:2022-23.

Expectations for Q4:2022-23

  • Turnover of infrastructure companies is expected to improve further in Q4:2022-23 (Chart 2).

  • Respondent expressed upbeat sentiments on employment conditions.

  • Higher cost pressures are expected to stem from wage cost and finance cost in Q4:2022-23; outlook on selling prices and profit margins is more upbeat.

Expectations for Q1:2023-24 and Q2:2023-24

  • Respondents remain optimistic on demand and employment conditions till the first half of 2023-24 (Table D).

  • Input cost pressures are likely to persist in near term and sentiments on selling prices to remain at elevated level.

Chart 2: Turnover of Infrastructure Companies -Net Response

Summary of Net Responses2 on Survey Parameters

Table A: Services Sector
(per cent)
Parameters Assessment period Expectations period
Q2:2022-23 Q3:2022-23 Q3:2022-23 Q4:2022-23
Overall Business Situation 40.5 48.1 53.0 50.1
Turnover 42.7 43.7 57.1 45.5
Full-time Employees 28.9 38.4 32.6 42.3
Part-time Employees 16.2 34.9 22.8 36.7
Availability of Finance 19.6 37.5 26.7 36.9
Cost of Finance -29.7 -36.1 -36.5 -36.5
Salary & Wages -43.3 -44.2 -40.9 -38.7
Cost of Inputs -42.4 -41.4 -44.5 -44.8
Selling Price 13.2 36.0 19.6 33.4
Profit Margin 2.0 35.8 26.8 39.4
Inventories 30.1 43.5 37.8 43.5
Technical/Service Capacity 21.8 37.1 27.7 37.0
Physical Investment 19.4 37.0 21.3 36.7

Table B: Infrastructure Sector
(per cent)
Parameters Assessment period Expectations period
Q2:2022-23 Q3:2022-23 Q3:2022-23 Q4:2022-23
Overall Business Situation 30.6 49.0 45.1 50.9
Turnover 31.7 45.4 47.2 48.8
Full-time Employees 23.4 44.7 29.8 45.5
Part-time Employees 10.7 43.8 17.8 45.9
Availability of Finance 22.0 44.7 37.7 46.4
Cost of Finance -36.4 -44.9 -41.7 -43.8
Salary & Wages -27.0 -51.9 -32.5 -44.7
Cost of Inputs -44.2 -46.0 -48.7 -48.5
Selling Price 15.0 44.5 27.0 43.8
Profit Margin -1.6 44.6 16.5 45.1
Inventories 28.8 45.9 39.0 46.4
Technical/Service Capacity 19.1 44.2 25.9 44.6
Physical Investment 16.5 43.4 24.1 43.2

Expectations of Select Parameters for extended period – Net response (in per cent)

Table C: Services Sector
Parameter Round 34 Round 35
Q3:2022-23 Q4:2022-23 Q1:2023-24 Q2:2023-24
Overall Business Situation 53.0 50.1 50.3 49.8
Turnover 57.1 45.5 46.8 47.1
Full-time Employees 32.6 42.3 38.3 42.2
Part-time Employees 22.8 36.7 36.5 37.3
Cost of Inputs -44.5 -44.8 -44.6 -45.5
Selling Price 19.6 33.4 36.0 36.8

Table D: Infrastructure Sector
Parameter Round 34 Round 35
Q3:2022-23 Q4:2022-23 Q1:2023-24 Q2:2023-24
Overall Business Situation 45.1 50.9 50.9 49.3
Turnover 47.2 48.8 48.3 48.6
Full-time Employees 29.8 45.5 45.4 43.5
Part-time Employees 17.8 45.9 44.0 45.4
Cost of Inputs -48.7 -48.5 -46.6 -46.6
Selling Price 27.0 43.8 43.6 44.3

Note: Please see the excel file for time series data.

Services Sector

Table S1: Assessment and Expectation for Overall Business Situation
(Percentage responses)@
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Better No Change Worse Net response# Better No Change Worse Net response
Q3:21-22 41.9 44.3 13.8 28.2 75.3 22.3 2.4 72.9
Q4:21-22 40.7 36.0 23.4 17.3 68.3 28.2 3.5 64.8
Q1:22-23 47.0 38.3 14.7 32.2 56.6 40.1 3.3 53.4
Q2:22-23 45.9 48.7 5.4 40.5 59.6 36.7 3.7 55.9
Q3:22-23 52.4 43.3 4.3 48.1 57.4 38.1 4.4 53.0
Q4:22-23         55.0 40.0 5.0 50.1
‘Increase’ in Overall business situation is optimistic.
@: Due to rounding off percentage may not add up to 100.
#: Net Response (NR) is the difference of percentage of the respondents reporting optimism and that reporting pessimism. The range is -100 to 100. Any value greater than zero indicates expansion/ optimism and any value less than zero indicates contraction/ pessimism.

Table S2: Assessment and Expectation for Turnover
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 41.5 41.7 16.8 24.7 75.0 21.4 3.7 71.3
Q4:21-22 41.0 32.9 26.1 14.9 67.2 28.6 4.1 63.1
Q1:22-23 43.1 37.7 19.2 23.9 55.5 40.2 4.3 51.1
Q2:22-23 51.2 40.3 8.5 42.7 54.6 41.4 4.0 50.6
Q3:22-23 49.2 45.2 5.5 43.7 61.6 34.0 4.4 57.1
Q4:22-23         51.5 42.5 6.0 45.5
‘Increase’ in Turnover is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S3: Assessment and Expectation for Full-time Employees
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 23.0 65.9 11.2 11.8 55.5 41.9 2.6 52.9
Q4:21-22 20.1 61.5 18.4 1.7 49.7 47.9 2.4 47.2
Q1:22-23 28.2 57.5 14.3 13.8 27.0 68.6 4.4 22.6
Q2:22-23 35.6 57.7 6.7 28.9 29.1 67.8 3.1 26.0
Q3:22-23 42.9 52.5 4.6 38.4 38.4 55.9 5.8 32.6
Q4:22-23         47.1 48.0 4.8 42.3
‘Increase’ in Full-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S4: Assessment and Expectation for Part-time Employees
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 22.6 69.9 7.4 15.2 70.3 27.0 2.7 67.6
Q4:21-22 18.5 70.4 11.1 7.4 57.5 39.7 2.7 54.8
Q1:22-23 25.2 65.9 8.9 16.3 25.0 67.8 7.2 17.8
Q2:22-23 22.2 71.8 6.0 16.2 29.0 64.5 6.6 22.4
Q3:22-23 40.1 54.8 5.1 34.9 27.8 67.3 5.0 22.8
Q4:22-23         41.8 53.1 5.1 36.7
‘Increase’ in Part-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S5: Assessment and Expectation for Availability of Finance
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Improve No Change Worsen Net response Improve No Change Worsen Net response
Q3:21-22 25.6 61.1 13.3 12.4 59.8 37.5 2.6 57.2
Q4:21-22 32.2 46.2 21.6 10.5 50.7 45.9 3.4 47.3
Q1:22-23 28.5 54.9 16.5 12.0 33.5 61.3 5.2 28.2
Q2:22-23 26.9 65.8 7.3 19.6 33.2 61.7 5.1 28.2
Q3:22-23 42.1 53.4 4.6 37.5 32.9 61.0 6.2 26.7
Q4:22-23         42.3 52.4 5.4 36.9
‘Improve’ in Availability of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S6: Assessment and Expectation for Cost of Finance
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 19.5 73.6 6.9 -12.6 56.0 41.2 2.7 -53.3
Q4:21-22 15.5 75.0 9.5 -6.0 43.6 54.0 2.4 -41.2
Q1:22-23 34.4 58.5 7.1 -27.3 17.3 79.9 2.8 -14.5
Q2:22-23 35.1 59.5 5.4 -29.7 31.5 66.0 2.5 -29.1
Q3:22-23 40.7 54.7 4.6 -36.1 39.7 57.1 3.2 -36.5
Q4:22-23         41.6 53.2 5.2 -36.5
‘Decrease’ in Cost of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S7: Assessment and Expectation for Salary/Wages
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 24.0 69.2 6.8 -17.2 53.4 44.9 1.7 -51.7
Q4:21-22 24.1 71.6 4.3 -19.8 49.6 49.3 1.1 -48.5
Q1:22-23 40.4 55.1 4.5 -35.9 37.0 62.4 0.6 -36.3
Q2:22-23 46.1 51.0 2.9 -43.3 28.4 70.5 1.1 -27.3
Q3:22-23 47.9 48.4 3.7 -44.2 42.4 56.0 1.6 -40.9
Q4:22-23         43.3 52.1 4.6 -38.7
‘Decrease’ in Salary/Wages is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S8: Assessment and Expectation for Cost of Inputs
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 47.5 48.5 4.0 -43.5 69.3 30.3 0.4 -68.8
Q4:21-22 63.5 32.9 3.6 -59.9 73.1 26.1 0.8 -72.4
Q1:22-23 67.0 29.9 3.2 -63.8 61.0 36.6 2.3 -58.7
Q2:22-23 46.0 50.3 3.6 -42.4 62.0 36.1 1.9 -60.2
Q3:22-23 46.1 49.2 4.7 -41.4 49.4 45.6 4.9 -44.5
Q4:22-23         50.1 44.5 5.3 -44.8
‘Decrease’ in Cost of Inputs is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S9: Assessment and Expectation for Selling Price
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 22.4 68.2 9.4 13.0 62.3 35.6 2.1 60.2
Q4:21-22 24.2 65.7 10.2 14.0 54.1 43.1 2.8 51.4
Q1:22-23 31.9 60.1 8.0 23.9 29.5 65.9 4.6 24.9
Q2:22-23 19.1 74.9 5.9 13.2 33.3 63.1 3.6 29.8
Q3:22-23 40.8 54.4 4.8 36.0 25.7 68.3 6.1 19.6
Q4:22-23         38.9 55.6 5.5 33.4
‘Increase’ in Selling Price is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S10: Assessment and Expectation for Profit Margin
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 21.2 58.3 20.5 0.7 55.0 38.8 6.2 48.8
Q4:21-22 21.2 46.4 32.4 -11.1 46.5 47.0 6.5 40.1
Q1:22-23 19.0 49.3 31.7 -12.7 28.9 61.3 9.8 19.1
Q2:22-23 21.9 58.3 19.9 2.0 30.1 58.1 11.8 18.3
Q3:22-23 41.9 52.0 6.1 35.8 36.3 54.3 9.5 26.8
Q4:22-23         44.8 49.7 5.4 39.4
‘Increase’ in Profit Margin is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S11: Assessment and Expectation for Inventories
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 23.5 69.0 7.5 16.0 62.8 34.8 2.4 60.4
Q4:21-22 18.9 70.6 10.6 8.3 54.9 41.8 3.4 51.5
Q1:22-23 25.4 66.7 8.0 17.4 22.9 72.5 4.7 18.2
Q2:22-23 33.7 62.7 3.6 30.1 27.5 68.9 3.6 24.0
Q3:22-23 48.3 46.9 4.8 43.5 40.5 56.8 2.7 37.8
Q4:22-23         48.8 46.0 5.2 43.5
‘Increase’ in Inventories is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S12: Assessment and Expectation for Technical/Service Capacity
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 23.1 72.5 4.3 18.8 73.7 25.7 0.6 73.2
Q4:21-22 23.7 71.6 4.7 18.9 65.1 34.1 0.8 64.3
Q1:22-23 25.8 71.9 2.3 23.5 31.3 66.9 1.8 29.4
Q2:22-23 24.0 73.8 2.2 21.8 33.9 63.8 2.3 31.7
Q3:22-23 41.7 53.6 4.7 37.1 29.5 68.8 1.7 27.7
Q4:22-23         41.5 53.9 4.6 37.0
‘Increase’ in Technical/Service Capacity is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S13: Assessment and Expectation for Physical Investment
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 20.7 74.4 4.9 15.8 68.8 30.7 0.5 68.2
Q4:21-22 20.5 74.3 5.3 15.2 61.5 37.4 1.1 60.3
Q1:22-23 25.0 72.5 2.5 22.5 27.7 69.9 2.4 25.3
Q2:22-23 21.4 76.7 2.0 19.4 32.5 66.5 1.0 31.5
Q3:22-23 41.3 54.4 4.3 37.0 22.8 75.8 1.5 21.3
Q4:22-23         41.4 53.9 4.7 36.7
‘Increase’ in Physical Investment is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Infrastructure Sector

Table I1: Assessment and Expectation for Overall Business Situation
(Percentage responses)@
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Better No Change Worse Net response# Better No Change Worse Net response
Q3:21-22 41.9 44.1 14.0 27.9 71.3 26.7 2.1 69.2
Q4:21-22 46.9 29.6 23.5 23.5 75.7 19.9 4.4 71.3
Q1:22-23 46.9 26.9 26.2 20.8 59.3 34.6 6.2 53.1
Q2:22-23 41.9 46.8 11.3 30.6 53.1 36.9 10.0 43.1
Q3:22-23 55.5 38.0 6.5 49.0 49.2 46.7 4.1 45.1
Q4:22-23         56.8 37.2 6.0 50.9
‘Increase’ in Overall business situation is optimistic.
@: Due to rounding off percentage may not add up to 100.
#: Net Response (NR) is the difference of percentage of the respondents reporting optimism and that reporting pessimism. The range is -100 to 100. Any value greater than zero indicates expansion/ optimism and any value less than zero indicates contraction/ pessimism.

Table I2: Assessment and Expectation for Turnover
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 40.7 46.7 12.6 28.1 67.9 27.5 4.6 63.3
Q4:21-22 45.0 31.3 23.8 21.3 73.3 20.0 6.7 66.7
Q1:22-23 37.2 30.2 32.6 4.7 51.3 37.5 11.3 40.0
Q2:22-23 45.5 40.7 13.8 31.7 43.0 46.1 10.9 32.0
Q3:22-23 52.6 40.2 7.2 45.4 56.1 35.0 8.9 47.2
Q4:22-23         55.8 37.2 7.0 48.8
‘Increase’ in Turnover is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I3: Assessment and Expectation for Full-time Employees
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 20.1 72.4 7.5 12.7 50.0 45.8 4.2 45.8
Q4:21-22 12.5 80.0 7.5 5.0 54.5 39.6 6.0 48.5
Q1:22-23 22.7 62.5 14.8 7.8 23.1 71.8 5.1 17.9
Q2:22-23 31.5 60.5 8.1 23.4 20.6 74.6 4.8 15.9
Q3:22-23 51.2 42.3 6.5 44.7 36.4 57.0 6.6 29.8
Q4:22-23         52.4 40.7 6.9 45.5
‘Increase’ in Full-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I4: Assessment and Expectation for Part-time Employees
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 24.5 74.5 1.0 23.5 69.3 28.8 2.0 67.3
Q4:21-22 4.4 88.9 6.7 -2.2 73.2 24.7 2.1 71.1
Q1:22-23 17.2 75.9 6.9 10.3 20.5 75.0 4.5 15.9
Q2:22-23 19.7 71.3 9.0 10.7 21.8 72.7 5.5 16.4
Q3:22-23 50.3 43.2 6.5 43.8 24.6 68.6 6.8 17.8
Q4:22-23         52.1 41.7 6.2 45.9
‘Increase’ in Part-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I5: Assessment and Expectation for Availability of Finance
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Improve No Change Worsen Net response Improve No Change Worsen Net response
Q3:21-22 27.6 62.7 9.7 17.9 56.1 39.7 4.2 51.9
Q4:21-22 31.3 46.3 22.5 8.8 66.4 29.1 4.5 61.9
Q1:22-23 29.5 49.6 20.9 8.5 28.8 67.5 3.8 25.0
Q2:22-23 30.9 60.2 8.9 22.0 33.9 59.8 6.3 27.6
Q3:22-23 50.5 43.7 5.8 44.7 43.4 50.8 5.7 37.7
Q4:22-23         52.2 41.9 5.8 46.4
‘Improve’ in Availability of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I6: Assessment and Expectation for Cost of Finance
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 24.2 71.9 3.9 -20.3 49.8 47.7 2.6 -47.2
Q4:21-22 27.4 67.1 5.5 -21.9 59.4 38.3 2.3 -57.0
Q1:22-23 43.0 51.2 5.8 -37.2 26.8 71.8 1.4 -25.4
Q2:22-23 43.8 48.8 7.4 -36.4 39.8 58.5 1.7 -38.1
Q3:22-23 51.0 42.8 6.2 -44.9 47.5 46.7 5.8 -41.7
Q4:22-23         49.7 44.5 5.8 -43.8
‘Decrease’ in Cost of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I7: Assessment and Expectation for Salary/Wages
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 22.4 73.9 3.7 -18.7 51.3 46.2 2.5 -48.7
Q4:21-22 23.8 72.5 3.8 -20.0 59.0 41.0 0.0 -59.0
Q1:22-23 38.5 55.4 6.2 -32.3 38.8 60.0 1.3 -37.5
Q2:22-23 31.1 64.8 4.1 -27.0 20.8 76.9 2.3 -18.5
Q3:22-23 56.3 39.2 4.4 -51.9 35.0 62.4 2.6 -32.5
Q4:22-23         50.5 43.6 5.8 -44.7
‘Decrease’ in Salary/Wages is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I8: Assessment and Expectation for Cost of Inputs
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 53.8 46.2 0.0 -53.8 76.5 23.0 0.4 -76.1
Q4:21-22 77.5 19.7 2.8 -74.6 83.1 15.4 1.5 -81.5
Q1:22-23 79.5 19.7 0.8 -78.7 80.3 18.3 1.4 -78.9
Q2:22-23 50.0 44.2 5.8 -44.2 76.0 23.1 0.8 -75.2
Q3:22-23 52.2 41.6 6.2 -46.0 53.0 42.7 4.3 -48.7
Q4:22-23         55.3 37.8 6.9 -48.5
‘Decrease’ in Cost of Inputs is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I9: Assessment and Expectation for Selling Price
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 27.0 67.6 5.4 21.6 59.9 38.1 2.0 57.9
Q4:21-22 21.4 73.2 5.4 16.1 66.4 32.7 0.9 65.5
Q1:22-23 32.2 54.0 13.8 18.4 25.0 73.2 1.8 23.2
Q2:22-23 27.5 60.0 12.5 15.0 34.1 62.4 3.5 30.6
Q3:22-23 51.4 41.8 6.8 44.5 32.2 62.6 5.2 27.0
Q4:22-23         50.3 43.1 6.6 43.8
‘Increase’ in Selling Price is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I10: Assessment and Expectation for Profit Margin
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 26.5 52.9 20.6 5.9 49.8 43.5 6.7 43.1
Q4:21-22 19.0 35.4 45.6 -26.6 57.4 33.1 9.6 47.8
Q1:22-23 13.8 34.6 51.5 -37.7 27.8 57.0 15.2 12.7
Q2:22-23 22.0 54.5 23.6 -1.6 22.5 62.0 15.5 7.0
Q3:22-23 52.2 40.1 7.6 44.6 34.7 47.1 18.2 16.5
Q4:22-23         52.8 39.6 7.6 45.1
‘Increase’ in Profit Margin is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I11: Assessment and Expectation for Inventories
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 26.3 69.3 4.4 21.9 58.6 36.5 5.0 53.6
Q4:21-22 19.1 74.5 6.4 12.8 64.9 31.6 3.5 61.4
Q1:22-23 20.9 70.1 9.0 11.9 24.4 71.1 4.4 20.0
Q2:22-23 36.4 55.9 7.6 28.8 25.8 71.2 3.0 22.7
Q3:22-23 52.4 41.0 6.6 45.9 45.8 47.5 6.8 39.0
Q4:22-23         53.6 39.2 7.2 46.4
‘Increase’ in Inventories is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I12: Assessment and Expectation for Technical/Service Capacity
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 27.5 71.4 1.1 26.4 82.1 16.4 1.5 80.6
Q4:21-22 28.6 60.7 10.7 17.9 76.7 22.2 1.1 75.6
Q1:22-23 23.5 73.5 2.9 20.6 32.1 64.3 3.6 28.6
Q2:22-23 25.5 68.2 6.4 19.1 29.4 67.6 2.9 26.5
Q3:22-23 50.2 43.9 6.0 44.2 27.7 70.5 1.8 25.9
Q4:22-23         50.5 43.5 6.0 44.6
‘Increase’ in Technical/Service Capacity is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I13: Assessment and Expectation for Physical Investment
(Percentage responses)
Quarter Assessment Expectation
Increase No Change Decrease Net response Increase No Change Decrease Net response
Q3:21-22 30.1 68.8 1.1 29.0 73.6 23.6 2.8 70.8
Q4:21-22 17.2 75.9 6.9 10.3 77.4 20.4 2.2 75.3
Q1:22-23 27.0 67.6 5.4 21.6 24.1 69.0 6.9 17.2
Q2:22-23 22.0 72.5 5.5 16.5 38.9 58.3 2.8 36.1
Q3:22-23 49.7 44.1 6.3 43.4 26.9 70.4 2.8 24.1
Q4:22-23         49.8 43.6 6.6 43.2
‘Increase’ in Physical Investment is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

1 The survey results reflect the respondents’ views, which are not necessarily shared by the Reserve Bank. Results of the previous survey round were released on the Bank’s website on September 30, 2022.

2 Net Response (NR) is the difference between the percentage of respondents reporting optimism and those reporting pessimism. It ranges between -100 to 100. Positive value indicates expansion/optimism and negative value indicates contraction/pessimism. In other words, NR = (I – D); where, I is the percentage response of ‘Increase/optimism’, D is the percentage response of ‘Decrease/pessimism’ and E is the percentage response as ‘no change/ equal’ (i.e., I+D+E=100). For example, increase in turnover is optimism whereas decrease in cost of inputs is optimism.


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