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Date : Oct 06, 2023
Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey for Q2:2023-24

Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of 38th round of its quarterly Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey (SIOS) conducted during Q2:2023-24. This forward-looking survey1 captures qualitative assessment and expectations of Indian companies engaged 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, 685 companies provided their assessment for Q2:2023-24 and expectations for Q3:2023-24 as well as outlook on key parameters for the subsequent two quarters.

Highlights:

A. Services Sector

Assessment for Q2:2023-24

  • Service sector firms retained their positive assessment about their overall business situation, turnover and employment position in Q2:2023-24 with somewhat lower sanguinity vis-à-vis the previous quarter (Chart 1 and Table A).

  • Pressures emanating from cost of finance, input prices and wages witnessed some moderation during Q2:2023-24.

  • Service sector firms assessed subdued rise in selling prices and profit margins during Q2:2023-24.

Expectations for Q3:2023-24

  • Respondents remain optimistic about overall business situation, turnover, and employment conditions in Q3:2023-24, though their optimism was lower vis-à-vis the previous quarter (Chart 1 and Table A).

  • Pressures from wage bill, input cost and cost of finance are likely to ease but service firms are less optimistic for selling price and profit margin in Q3:2023-24.

Expectations for Q4:2023-24 and Q1:2024-25

  • Overall business situation is expected to improve further till Q1:2024-25 with positive sentiments on turnover and employment (Table C).

  • Service sector firms expect lower input cost pressures and selling price growth in sync with it.

Chart 1: Turnover of Services Companies - Net Response

B. Infrastructure Sector

Assessment for Q2:2023-24

  • Infrastructure companies remained positive on overall business situation as well as their turnover, though their assessment was a shade lower when compared to the previous round of the survey (Chart 2 and Table B).

  • Enterprises gauged higher cost pressures stemming from input costs and cost of finance; however, pressures from salary outgo are assessed to have declined marginally.

  • Respondents assessed lower growth in their selling prices and moderation in profit margin for the third successive quarter.

Expectations for Q3:2023-24

  • Infrastructure firms remain highly confident on overall business conditions and turnover (Chart 2 and Table B).

  • Both selling price and profit margin are expected to rise in Q3:2023-24, though the optimism is somewhat lower when compared to the previous survey round.

Expectations for Q4:2023-24 and Q1:2024-25

  • Infrastructure firms remain optimistic on overall business situation and their own turnover; they also expect rise in input costs and selling prices up to Q1:2024-25 (Table D).

  • Respondents remain optimistic on employment situation in the ensuing quarters.

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
Q1:2023-24 Q2:2023-24 Q2:2023-24 Q3:2023-24
Overall Business Situation 42.0 34.4 56.0 43.1
Turnover 49.0 28.9 54.9 30.5
Full-time Employees 27.9 17.3 42.0 16.5
Part-time Employees 21.0 6.2 31.4 14.4
Availability of Finance 19.7 18.0 36.0 24.2
Cost of Finance -33.7 -30.1 -33.7 -26.6
Salary & Wages -43.2 -39.2 -44.8 -29.5
Cost of Inputs -35.7 -28.1 -40.9 -22.2
Selling Price 17.4 6.5 32.7 14.2
Profit Margin 4.9 4.3 41.2 13.8
Inventories 19.6 16.5 34.8 22.9
Technical/Service Capacity 25.1 25.3 49.8 40.0
Physical Investment 20.7 27.6 41.5 22.3

Table B: Infrastructure Sector
(per cent)
Parameters Assessment period Expectations period
Q1:2023-24 Q2:2023-24 Q2:2023-24 Q3:2023-24
Overall Business Situation 48.4 29.8 56.0 64.4
Turnover 49.5 31.7 55.6 50.0
Full-time Employees 33.3 16.3 46.7 39.4
Part-time Employees 37.0 31.0 47.2 55.2
Availability of Finance 12.2 26.0 45.6 42.7
Cost of Finance -42.4 -44.8 -41.7 -54.2
Salary & Wages -37.4 -35.9 -47.8 -39.2
Cost of Inputs -43.2 -45.1 -46.6 -45.0
Selling Price 22.0 20.7 41.0 38.0
Profit Margin 12.2 7.8 40.4 31.4
Inventories 15.0 36.8 33.3 57.9
Technical/Service Capacity 31.0 36.2 51.2 66.7
Physical Investment 27.1 34.2 33.8 46.8

Expectations of Select Parameters for extended period – Net response
(in per cent)
Table C: Services Sector
Parameter Round 37 Round 38
Q2:2023-24 Q3:2023-24 Q4:2023-24 Q1:2024-25
Overall Business Situation 56.0 43.1 39.5 39.6
Turnover 54.9 30.5 39.2 37.6
Full-time Employees 42.0 16.5 29.1 29.4
Part-time Employees 31.4 14.4 33.4 33.1
Cost of Inputs -40.9 -22.2 -28.5 -29.3
Selling Price 32.7 14.2 25.7 25.4

Table D: Infrastructure Sector
Parameter Round 37 Round 38
Q2:2023-24 Q3:2023-24 Q4:2023-24 Q1:2024-25
Overall Business Situation 56.0 64.4 51.0 49.0
Turnover 55.6 50.0 52.9 49.0
Full-time Employees 46.7 39.4 41.2 42.2
Part-time Employees 47.2 55.2 60.7 62.5
Cost of Inputs -46.6 -45.0 -41.8 -41.8
Selling Price 41.0 38.0 38.7 39.1

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
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 48.4 37.7 14.0 34.4 62.3 31.3 6.4 56.0
Q3:23-24         51.0 41.2 7.8 43.1
‘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
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 43.8 41.3 14.9 28.9 59.3 36.3 4.4 54.9
Q3:23-24         40.3 49.9 9.8 30.5
‘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
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 34.3 48.7 17.0 17.3 44.7 52.6 2.7 42.0
Q3:23-24         26.4 63.7 9.9 16.5
‘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
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 24.4 57.5 18.1 6.2 36.7 57.9 5.3 31.4
Q3:23-24         31.0 52.3 16.7 14.4
‘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
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 30.6 56.8 12.6 18.0 39.5 57.0 3.5 36.0
Q3:23-24         31.5 61.1 7.3 24.2
‘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
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 39.0 52.1 8.9 -30.1 38.1 57.6 4.3 -33.7
Q3:23-24         32.8 61.0 6.2 -26.6
‘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
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 44.5 50.3 5.3 -39.2 46.4 52.0 1.6 -44.8
Q3:23-24         33.6 62.3 4.1 -29.5
‘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
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 39.1 49.9 11.0 -28.1 47.0 46.8 6.1 -40.9
Q3:23-24         32.1 57.9 9.9 -22.2
‘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
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 21.9 62.7 15.4 6.5 39.5 53.7 6.8 32.7
Q3:23-24         26.4 61.5 12.1 14.2
‘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
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 26.3 51.8 22.0 4.3 50.3 40.6 9.1 41.2
Q3:23-24         27.3 59.2 13.5 13.8
‘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
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 30.2 56.2 13.6 16.5 40.3 54.3 5.4 34.8
Q3:23-24         34.5 53.9 11.6 22.9
‘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
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 28.1 69.2 2.7 25.3 51.2 47.5 1.3 49.8
Q3:23-24         41.9 56.3 1.9 40.0
‘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
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 30.7 66.1 3.1 27.6 43.4 54.8 1.8 41.5
Q3:23-24         23.3 75.8 0.9 22.3
‘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
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 44.2 41.3 14.4 29.8 62.6 30.8 6.6 56.0
Q3:23-24         67.3 29.8 2.9 64.4
‘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
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 46.2 39.4 14.4 31.7 61.1 33.3 5.6 55.6
Q3:23-24         53.8 42.3 3.8 50.0
‘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
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 28.8 58.7 12.5 16.3 48.9 48.9 2.2 46.7
Q3:23-24         42.3 54.8 2.9 39.4
‘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
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 37.9 55.2 6.9 31.0 50.9 45.3 3.8 47.2
Q3:23-24         60.3 34.5 5.2 55.2
‘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
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 36.5 52.9 10.6 26.0 51.1 43.3 5.6 45.6
Q3:23-24         46.6 49.5 3.9 42.7
‘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
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 51.0 42.7 6.3 -44.8 44.0 53.6 2.4 -41.7
Q3:23-24         54.2 45.8 0.0 -54.2
‘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
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 42.7 50.5 6.8 -35.9 47.8 52.2 0.0 -47.8
Q3:23-24         41.2 56.9 2.0 -39.2
‘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
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 50.0 45.1 4.9 -45.1 51.1 44.3 4.5 -46.6
Q3:23-24         52.0 41.0 7.0 -45.0
‘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
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 33.7 53.3 13.0 20.7 43.4 54.2 2.4 41.0
Q3:23-24         42.4 53.3 4.3 38.0
‘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
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 24.5 58.8 16.7 7.8 46.1 48.3 5.6 40.4
Q3:23-24         37.3 56.9 5.9 31.4
‘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
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 42.1 52.6 5.3 36.8 36.7 60.0 3.3 33.3
Q3:23-24         60.5 36.8 2.6 57.9
‘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
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 38.3 59.6 2.1 36.2 51.2 48.8 0.0 51.2
Q3:23-24         66.7 33.3 0.0 66.7
‘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
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 38.0 58.2 3.8 34.2 36.8 60.3 2.9 33.8
Q3:23-24         46.8 53.2 0.0 46.8
‘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 August 10, 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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