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Date : Aug 10, 2023
Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey for Q1:2023-24

Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of 37th round of its quarterly services and infrastructure outlook survey (SIOS) conducted during Q1:2023-24. 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, 670 companies provided their assessment for Q1:2023-24 and expectations for Q2:2023-24 as well as outlook on key parameters for the subsequent two quarters.

Highlights:

A. Services Sector

Assessment for Q1:2023-24

  • Services sector firms assessed continued improvement in the overall business situation during Q1:2023-24; though the level of optimism recorded some moderation from the previous quarter (Chart 1 and Table A).

  • The sentiments on turnover improved further with nearly 60 per cent of the respondents reporting an increase (Table S2).

  • Employment conditions remained positive with some moderation from the previous survey round.

  • Pressures from input cost and wage bill witnessed some easing during the quarter.

  • Respondents polled for lower optimism for both selling prices and profit margin.

Expectations for Q2:2023-24

  • Service enterprises are optimistic about overall business situation as well as their turnover and employment situation in Q2:2023-24 (Chart 1 and Table A).

  • Pressures from wage bill and cost of finance are expected to rise but input cost pressure is likely to be a shade lower vis-à-vis the previous quarter; rise in selling price may support profit margin.

Expectations for Q3:2023-24 and Q4:2023-24

  • Service sector enterprises expect further improvement in demand conditions in the second half of the financial year (Table C).

  • Input cost pressures are likely to continue with expectations on selling prices to rise in the ensuing quarters.

Chart 1

B. Infrastructure Sector

Assessment for Q1:2023-24

  • Infrastructure companies remained positive on the overall business situation as well as their turnover; though optimism waned marginally for overall business situation (Chart 2 and Table B).

  • Respondents reported improvement in employment conditions with over 45 per cent of respondents reporting an increase in full-time and part-time employees (Tables I3 and I4).

  • Infrastructure companies assessed some easing in input and wage cost pressures.

  • Enterprises gauged lower growth in selling prices for Q1:2023-24 and significant moderation in the assessment of profit margin vis-à-vis the previous quarter.

Expectations for Q2:2023-24

  • Demand parameters in the infrastructure sector are anticipated to improve during Q2:2023-24 (Chart 2 and Table B).

  • The job landscape is also likely to improve in terms of both full-time and part-time employment.

  • Higher cost pressures are expected to stem from wage cost and finance cost in Q2:2023-24; respondents expect to pass on the increase by increasing selling prices and remain optimistic on profit margins.

Expectations for Q3:2023-24 and Q4:2023-24

  • Infrastructure companies remain highly upbeat on demand and employment conditions till Q4:2023-24 (Table D).

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

Chart 2

Summary of Net Responses2 on Survey Parameters
Table A: Services Sector
(per cent)
Parameters Assessment period Expectations period
Q4:2022-23 Q1:2023-24 Q1:2023-24 Q2:2023-24
Overall Business Situation 49.5 42.0 55.8 56.0
Turnover 48.9 49.0 53.1 54.9
Full-time Employees 38.1 27.9 41.6 42.0
Part-time Employees 30.9 21.0 31.1 31.4
Availability of Finance 31.3 19.7 33.4 36.0
Cost of Finance -33.5 -33.7 -32.8 -33.7
Salary & Wages -43.7 -43.2 -38.4 -44.8
Cost of Inputs -37.2 -35.7 -41.1 -40.9
Selling Price 30.9 17.4 31.3 32.7
Profit Margin 33.9 4.9 39.1 41.2
Inventories 34.2 19.6 34.8 34.8
Technical/Service Capacity 33.7 25.1 34.0 49.8
Physical Investment 30.0 20.7 30.3 41.5

Table B: Infrastructure Sector
(per cent)
Parameters Assessment period Expectations period
Q4:2022-23 Q1:2023-24 Q1:2023-24 Q2:2023-24
Overall Business Situation 50.4 48.4 55.3 56.0
Turnover 48.7 49.5 55.3 55.6
Full-time Employees 41.7 33.3 46.5 46.7
Part-time Employees 42.9 37.0 42.9 47.2
Availability of Finance 39.8 12.2 44.1 45.6
Cost of Finance -36.3 -42.4 -41.1 -41.7
Salary & Wages -43.5 -37.4 -43.9 -47.8
Cost of Inputs -44.2 -43.2 -47.8 -46.6
Selling Price 42.3 22.0 40.7 41.0
Profit Margin 36.3 12.2 40.2 40.4
Inventories 43.4 15.0 46.4 33.3
Technical/Service Capacity 42.2 31.0 43.1 51.2
Physical Investment 42.2 27.1 40.2 33.8

Expectations of Select Parameters for extended period – Net response
(in per cent)
Table C: Services Sector
Parameter Round 36 Round 37
Q1:2023-24 Q2:2023-24 Q3:2023-24 Q4:2023-24
Overall Business Situation 55.8 56.0 56.2 56.3
Turnover 53.1 54.9 55.4 57.4
Full-time Employees 41.6 42.0 43.6 43.2
Part-time Employees 31.1 31.4 42.5 44.4
Cost of Inputs -41.1 -40.9 -43.2 -42.9
Selling Price 31.3 32.7 39.9 41.7

Table D: Infrastructure Sector
Parameter Round 36 Round 37
Q1:2023-24 Q2:2023-24 Q3:2023-24 Q4:2023-24
Overall Business Situation 55.3 56.0 56.7 57.3
Turnover 55.3 55.6 55.7 56.2
Full-time Employees 46.5 46.7 46.1 48.9
Part-time Employees 42.9 47.2 47.2 49.1
Cost of Inputs -47.8 -46.6 -47.1 -45.5
Selling Price 40.7 41.0 42.7 44.4

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
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 59.8 30.0 10.3 49.5 55.0 40.0 5.0 50.1
Q1:23-24 55.0 32.0 13.0 42.0 64.2 27.4 8.4 55.8
Q2:23-24         62.3 31.3 6.4 56.0
‘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
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 57.4 34.0 8.5 48.9 51.5 42.5 6.0 45.5
Q1:23-24 59.4 30.2 10.4 49.0 60.0 33.1 6.9 53.1
Q2:23-24         59.3 36.3 4.4 54.9
‘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
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 45.1 48.0 7.0 38.1 47.1 48.0 4.8 42.3
Q1:23-24 40.1 47.8 12.1 27.9 47.8 45.9 6.3 41.6
Q2:23-24         44.7 52.6 2.7 42.0
‘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
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 36.2 58.5 5.3 30.9 41.8 53.1 5.1 36.7
Q1:23-24 30.9 59.1 9.9 21.0 35.3 60.6 4.2 31.1
Q2:23-24         36.7 57.9 5.3 31.4
‘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
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 34.9 61.6 3.6 31.3 42.3 52.4 5.4 36.9
Q1:23-24 29.3 61.2 9.5 19.7 36.0 61.4 2.6 33.4
Q2:23-24         39.5 57.0 3.5 36.0
‘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
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 36.7 60.1 3.2 -33.5 41.6 53.2 5.2 -36.5
Q1:23-24 42.1 49.6 8.3 -33.7 35.4 62.0 2.6 -32.8
Q2:23-24         38.1 57.6 4.3 -33.7
‘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
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 47.6 48.4 3.9 -43.7 43.3 52.1 4.6 -38.7
Q1:23-24 48.8 45.6 5.6 -43.2 45.9 46.7 7.5 -38.4
Q2:23-24         46.4 52.0 1.6 -44.8
‘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
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 41.9 53.4 4.7 -37.2 50.1 44.5 5.3 -44.8
Q1:23-24 45.2 45.4 9.5 -35.7 43.8 53.6 2.7 -41.1
Q2:23-24         47.0 46.8 6.1 -40.9
‘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
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 34.4 62.2 3.5 30.9 38.9 55.6 5.5 33.4
Q1:23-24 28.8 59.8 11.4 17.4 35.7 60.0 4.3 31.3
Q2:23-24         39.5 53.7 6.8 32.7
‘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
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 43.6 46.7 9.7 33.9 44.8 49.7 5.4 39.4
Q1:23-24 26.3 52.3 21.4 4.9 48.4 42.3 9.3 39.1
Q2:23-24         50.3 40.6 9.1 41.2
‘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
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 38.1 58.1 3.8 34.2 48.8 46.0 5.2 43.5
Q1:23-24 30.4 58.8 10.8 19.6 38.6 57.7 3.7 34.8
Q2:23-24         40.3 54.3 5.4 34.8
‘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
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 36.4 60.9 2.7 33.7 41.5 53.9 4.6 37.0
Q1:23-24 30.0 65.1 4.9 25.1 36.4 61.1 2.5 34.0
Q2:23-24         51.2 47.5 1.3 49.8
‘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
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 32.2 65.5 2.3 30.0 41.4 53.9 4.7 36.7
Q1:23-24 26.9 66.8 6.3 20.7 33.0 64.3 2.7 30.3
Q2:23-24         43.4 54.8 1.8 41.5
‘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
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 60.9 28.7 10.4 50.4 56.8 37.2 6.0 50.9
Q1:23-24 62.6 23.1 14.3 48.4 60.5 34.2 5.3 55.3
Q2:23-24         62.6 30.8 6.6 56.0
‘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
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 60.9 27.0 12.2 48.7 55.8 37.2 7.0 48.8
Q1:23-24 64.8 19.8 15.4 49.5 61.4 32.5 6.1 55.3
Q2:23-24         61.1 33.3 5.6 55.6
‘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
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 47.0 47.8 5.2 41.7 52.4 40.7 6.9 45.5
Q1:23-24 46.7 40.0 13.3 33.3 50.9 44.7 4.4 46.5
Q2:23-24         48.9 48.9 2.2 46.7
‘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
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 46.4 50.0 3.6 42.9 52.1 41.7 6.2 45.9
Q1:23-24 48.1 40.7 11.1 37.0 43.8 55.4 0.9 42.9
Q2:23-24         50.9 45.3 3.8 47.2
‘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
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 45.1 49.6 5.3 39.8 52.2 41.9 5.8 46.4
Q1:23-24 28.9 54.4 16.7 12.2 46.8 50.5 2.7 44.1
Q2:23-24         51.1 43.3 5.6 45.6
‘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
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 43.4 49.6 7.1 -36.3 49.7 44.5 5.8 -43.8
Q1:23-24 50.6 41.2 8.2 -42.4 43.8 53.6 2.7 -41.1
Q2:23-24         44.0 53.6 2.4 -41.7
‘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
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 47.0 49.6 3.5 -43.5 50.5 43.6 5.8 -44.7
Q1:23-24 40.7 56.0 3.3 -37.4 46.5 50.9 2.6 -43.9
Q2:23-24         47.8 52.2 0.0 -47.8
‘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
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 46.9 50.4 2.7 -44.2 55.3 37.8 6.9 -48.5
Q1:23-24 47.7 47.7 4.5 -43.2 49.6 48.7 1.8 -47.8
Q2:23-24         51.1 44.3 4.5 -46.6
‘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
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 46.8 48.6 4.5 42.3 50.3 43.1 6.6 43.8
Q1:23-24 29.3 63.4 7.3 22.0 43.5 53.7 2.8 40.7
Q2:23-24         43.4 54.2 2.4 41.0
‘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
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 46.0 44.2 9.7 36.3 52.8 39.6 7.6 45.1
Q1:23-24 36.7 38.9 24.4 12.2 47.3 45.5 7.1 40.2
Q2:23-24         46.1 48.3 5.6 40.4
‘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
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 48.7 46.0 5.3 43.4 53.6 39.2 7.2 46.4
Q1:23-24 28.3 58.3 13.3 15.0 48.2 50.0 1.8 46.4
Q2:23-24         36.7 60.0 3.3 33.3
‘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
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 45.9 50.5 3.7 42.2 50.5 43.5 6.0 44.6
Q1:23-24 35.7 59.5 4.8 31.0 45.0 53.2 1.8 43.1
Q2:23-24         51.2 48.8 0.0 51.2
‘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
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 45.9 50.5 3.7 42.2 49.8 43.6 6.6 43.2
Q1:23-24 37.1 52.9 10.0 27.1 43.9 52.3 3.7 40.2
Q2:23-24         36.8 60.3 2.9 33.8
‘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 April 06, 2023.

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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