Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of 42nd round of its quarterly Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey (SIOS) conducted during Q2:2024-25. 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 survey2, 761 companies provided their assessment for Q2:2024-25 and expectations for Q3:2024-25 as well as outlook on key parameters for the subsequent two quarters. Highlights: A. Services Sector Assessment for Q2:2024-25 -
Service sector firms retained positive assessment about their overall business situation, turnover and employment position in Q2:2024-25 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 moderation. -
Sentiments on growth in selling prices and profit margins moderated but remained positive (Table A). Expectations for Q3:2024-25 -
Respondents remained highly optimistic on demand conditions in Q3:2024-25, though their optimism regarding overall business situation and job landscape stood lower vis-à-vis the previous quarter (Chart 1 and Table A). -
Pressures emanating from input costs and finance costs are likely to continue during Q3:2024-25; pressures stemming from salary outgo are, however, expected to ease. -
Selling prices and profit margins are expected to record lower growth in Q3:2024-25. Expectations for Q4:2024-25 and Q1:2025-26 -
Overall business situation is expected to improve; firms remain highly optimistic on turnover and employment (Table C). -
Input cost pressures are likely to persist and growth in selling prices is in sync with it. B. Infrastructure Sector Assessment for Q2:2024-25 -
Infrastructure companies retained positive sentiments on overall business situation as well as their turnover (Chart 2 and Table B). -
Enterprises gauged higher cost pressures from input costs; pressures from salary outgo and cost of finance, however, were assessed to have eased. -
Respondents assessed subdued rise in selling prices and profit margins during Q2:2024-25. Expectations for Q3:2024-25 -
Infrastructure firms polled for highly optimistic outlook on overall business conditions and turnover (Chart 2 and Table B). -
Input cost pressures in the infrastructure sector are likely to persist with associated rise in selling prices; optimism on profit margin moderated. Expectations for Q4:2024-25 and Q1:2025-26 -
Firms expressed high optimism on demand conditions till Q1:2025-26 (Table D). -
Input cost pressures are likely to persist in near term and growth in selling prices are expected to record sustained rise. Summary of Net Responses3 on Survey Parameters Table A: Services Sector | (per cent) | Parameters | Assessment period | Expectations period | Q1:24-25 | Q2:24-25 | Q2:24-25 | Q3:24-25 | Overall Business Situation | 34.1 | 30.2 | 69.4 | 68.0 | Turnover | 33.5 | 30.7 | 68.7 | 68.9 | Full-time Employees | 27.8 | 20.1 | 50.5 | 44.0 | Part-time Employees | 22.7 | 13.9 | 52.9 | 52.1 | Availability of Finance | 32.0 | 19.8 | 57.6 | 50.1 | Cost of Finance | -35.1 | -32.3 | -56.9 | -54.3 | Salary & Wages | -42.6 | -25.8 | -53.8 | -44.5 | Cost of Inputs | -44.7 | -40.6 | -65.9 | -64.2 | Selling Price | 21.7 | 12.1 | 54.1 | 48.0 | Profit Margin | 10.5 | 4.2 | 45.4 | 38.4 | Inventories | 24.3 | 18.4 | 52.0 | 46.6 | Technical/Service Capacity | 26.2 | 18.5 | 57.0 | 58.3 | Physical Investment | 24.2 | 16.1 | 55.4 | 56.7 | Table B: Infrastructure Sector | (per cent) | Parameters | Assessment period | Expectations period | Q1:24-25 | Q2:24-25 | Q2:24-25 | Q3:24-25 | Overall Business Situation | 26.6 | 21.7 | 74.5 | 67.4 | Turnover | 26.6 | 25.4 | 69.9 | 71.0 | Full-time Employees | 21.4 | 18.1 | 62.7 | 39.3 | Part-time Employees | 25.5 | 9.7 | 60.7 | 48.9 | Availability of Finance | 29.2 | 18.2 | 68.0 | 54.4 | Cost of Finance | -29.1 | -26.6 | -62.4 | -60.3 | Salary & Wages | -34.4 | -26.8 | -70.6 | -43.1 | Cost of Inputs | -36.1 | -40.8 | -75.2 | -70.8 | Selling Price | 21.5 | 10.9 | 66.7 | 50.0 | Profit Margin | 16.9 | 5.8 | 61.8 | 40.6 | Inventories | 29.0 | 20.5 | 70.1 | 56.4 | Technical/Service Capacity | 31.9 | 19.1 | 79.1 | 72.5 | Physical Investment | 27.3 | 25.7 | 75.8 | 75.3 | Expectations of Select Parameters for extended period – Net response (in per cent) Table C: Services Sector | Parameter | Round 41 | Round 42 | Q2:24-25 | Q3:24-25 | Q4:24-25 | Q1:25-26 | Overall Business Situation | 69.4 | 68.0 | 69.6 | 69.7 | Turnover | 68.7 | 68.9 | 70.7 | 70.4 | Full-time Employees | 50.5 | 44.0 | 45.7 | 44.7 | Part-time Employees | 52.9 | 52.1 | 51.0 | 50.5 | Cost of Inputs | -65.9 | -64.2 | -58.6 | -58.2 | Selling Price | 54.1 | 48.0 | 50.6 | 51.4 | Table D: Infrastructure Sector | Parameter | Round 41 | Round 42 | Q2:24-25 | Q3:24-25 | Q4:24-25 | Q1:25-26 | Overall Business Situation | 74.5 | 67.4 | 71.9 | 71.1 | Turnover | 69.9 | 71.0 | 74.5 | 72.5 | Full-time Employees | 62.7 | 39.3 | 45.2 | 42.2 | Part-time Employees | 60.7 | 48.9 | 62.4 | 61.9 | Cost of Inputs | -75.2 | -70.8 | -59.8 | -59.8 | Selling Price | 66.7 | 50.0 | 57.7 | 60.0 | 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 | Q2:23-24 | 48.4 | 37.7 | 14.0 | 34.4 | 62.3 | 31.3 | 6.4 | 56.0 | Q3:23-24 | 47.6 | 40.4 | 12.0 | 35.6 | 51.0 | 41.2 | 7.8 | 43.1 | Q4:23-24 | 48.9 | 39.8 | 11.4 | 37.5 | 59.4 | 36.0 | 4.6 | 54.8 | Q1:24-25 | 43.0 | 48.1 | 8.9 | 34.1 | 68.5 | 28.4 | 3.1 | 65.3 | Q2:24-25 | 41.9 | 46.4 | 11.7 | 30.2 | 71.5 | 26.5 | 2.0 | 69.4 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 70.1 | 27.8 | 2.1 | 68.0 | ‘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 | Q2:23-24 | 43.8 | 41.3 | 14.9 | 28.9 | 59.3 | 36.3 | 4.4 | 54.9 | Q3:23-24 | 48.2 | 35.9 | 15.9 | 32.3 | 40.3 | 49.9 | 9.8 | 30.5 | Q4:23-24 | 51.6 | 34.3 | 14.0 | 37.6 | 59.8 | 33.8 | 6.4 | 53.4 | Q1:24-25 | 45.2 | 43.1 | 11.7 | 33.5 | 70.5 | 23.6 | 5.9 | 64.6 | Q2:24-25 | 43.6 | 43.5 | 12.9 | 30.7 | 71.9 | 24.8 | 3.3 | 68.7 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 71.9 | 25.2 | 3.0 | 68.9 | ‘Increase’ in Turnover is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 34.3 | 48.7 | 17.0 | 17.3 | 44.7 | 52.6 | 2.7 | 42.0 | Q3:23-24 | 29.9 | 61.6 | 8.5 | 21.4 | 26.4 | 63.7 | 9.9 | 16.5 | Q4:23-24 | 33.9 | 57.1 | 9.0 | 24.8 | 32.4 | 64.0 | 3.6 | 28.8 | Q1:24-25 | 34.8 | 58.2 | 7.0 | 27.8 | 48.4 | 49.5 | 2.1 | 46.3 | Q2:24-25 | 29.0 | 62.0 | 9.0 | 20.1 | 52.2 | 46.0 | 1.7 | 50.5 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 45.8 | 52.4 | 1.8 | 44.0 | ‘Increase’ in Full-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 24.4 | 57.5 | 18.1 | 6.2 | 36.7 | 57.9 | 5.3 | 31.4 | Q3:23-24 | 21.5 | 70.3 | 8.2 | 13.2 | 31.0 | 52.3 | 16.7 | 14.4 | Q4:23-24 | 30.2 | 62.4 | 7.5 | 22.7 | 28.8 | 65.4 | 5.8 | 23.1 | Q1:24-25 | 28.9 | 65.0 | 6.1 | 22.7 | 50.8 | 46.7 | 2.5 | 48.3 | Q2:24-25 | 22.2 | 69.6 | 8.3 | 13.9 | 55.4 | 42.1 | 2.5 | 52.9 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 54.1 | 43.8 | 2.1 | 52.1 | ‘Increase’ in Part-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 30.6 | 56.8 | 12.6 | 18.0 | 39.5 | 57.0 | 3.5 | 36.0 | Q3:23-24 | 32.3 | 60.3 | 7.4 | 24.9 | 31.5 | 61.1 | 7.3 | 24.2 | Q4:23-24 | 36.3 | 55.3 | 8.4 | 27.8 | 40.4 | 56.7 | 2.9 | 37.4 | Q1:24-25 | 37.9 | 56.2 | 5.9 | 32.0 | 56.4 | 42.5 | 1.1 | 55.3 | Q2:24-25 | 28.5 | 62.8 | 8.7 | 19.8 | 58.8 | 40.0 | 1.2 | 57.6 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 51.4 | 47.2 | 1.4 | 50.1 | ‘Improve’ in Availability of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 39.0 | 52.1 | 8.9 | -30.1 | 38.1 | 57.6 | 4.3 | -33.7 | Q3:23-24 | 36.5 | 59.3 | 4.2 | -32.3 | 32.8 | 61.0 | 6.2 | -26.6 | Q4:23-24 | 38.0 | 55.6 | 6.5 | -31.5 | 38.1 | 58.2 | 3.7 | -34.4 | Q1:24-25 | 40.0 | 55.1 | 4.9 | -35.1 | 51.0 | 43.5 | 5.5 | -45.5 | Q2:24-25 | 36.6 | 59.0 | 4.3 | -32.3 | 59.4 | 38.0 | 2.6 | -56.9 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 55.9 | 42.5 | 1.6 | -54.3 | ‘Decrease’ in Cost of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 44.5 | 50.3 | 5.3 | -39.2 | 46.4 | 52.0 | 1.6 | -44.8 | Q3:23-24 | 42.4 | 53.5 | 4.0 | -38.4 | 33.6 | 62.3 | 4.1 | -29.5 | Q4:23-24 | 34.8 | 60.7 | 4.5 | -30.2 | 38.6 | 59.6 | 1.8 | -36.8 | Q1:24-25 | 45.3 | 52.0 | 2.7 | -42.6 | 46.7 | 53.3 | 0.0 | -46.7 | Q2:24-25 | 29.9 | 66.0 | 4.1 | -25.8 | 54.5 | 44.9 | 0.7 | -53.8 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 45.0 | 54.5 | 0.5 | -44.5 | ‘Decrease’ in Salary/Wages is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 39.1 | 49.9 | 11.0 | -28.1 | 47.0 | 46.8 | 6.1 | -40.9 | Q3:23-24 | 44.6 | 48.6 | 6.8 | -37.9 | 32.1 | 57.9 | 9.9 | -22.2 | Q4:23-24 | 46.7 | 49.3 | 4.0 | -42.8 | 47.4 | 50.9 | 1.7 | -45.7 | Q1:24-25 | 47.5 | 49.6 | 2.9 | -44.7 | 57.1 | 42.5 | 0.4 | -56.7 | Q2:24-25 | 44.4 | 51.8 | 3.8 | -40.6 | 66.5 | 32.9 | 0.6 | -65.9 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 65.6 | 33.1 | 1.3 | -64.2 | ‘Decrease’ in Cost of Inputs is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 21.9 | 62.7 | 15.4 | 6.5 | 39.5 | 53.7 | 6.8 | 32.7 | Q3:23-24 | 24.3 | 66.6 | 9.2 | 15.1 | 26.4 | 61.5 | 12.1 | 14.2 | Q4:23-24 | 29.9 | 62.6 | 7.5 | 22.4 | 35.3 | 60.0 | 4.7 | 30.7 | Q1:24-25 | 26.9 | 67.9 | 5.2 | 21.7 | 52.4 | 46.0 | 1.6 | 50.8 | Q2:24-25 | 20.5 | 71.1 | 8.4 | 12.1 | 55.5 | 43.2 | 1.4 | 54.1 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 50.4 | 47.3 | 2.3 | 48.0 | ‘Increase’ in Selling Price is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 26.3 | 51.8 | 22.0 | 4.3 | 50.3 | 40.6 | 9.1 | 41.2 | Q3:23-24 | 27.1 | 55.5 | 17.4 | 9.7 | 27.3 | 59.2 | 13.5 | 13.8 | Q4:23-24 | 29.6 | 57.0 | 13.3 | 16.3 | 36.1 | 55.2 | 8.6 | 27.5 | Q1:24-25 | 26.5 | 57.5 | 16.0 | 10.5 | 50.6 | 45.1 | 4.2 | 46.4 | Q2:24-25 | 21.0 | 62.1 | 16.8 | 4.2 | 49.6 | 46.3 | 4.2 | 45.4 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 42.3 | 53.7 | 3.9 | 38.4 | ‘Increase’ in Profit Margin is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 30.2 | 56.2 | 13.6 | 16.5 | 40.3 | 54.3 | 5.4 | 34.8 | Q3:23-24 | 29.6 | 62.9 | 7.5 | 22.2 | 34.5 | 53.9 | 11.6 | 22.9 | Q4:23-24 | 32.2 | 60.9 | 6.9 | 25.4 | 34.2 | 60.0 | 5.8 | 28.3 | Q1:24-25 | 31.2 | 62.0 | 6.9 | 24.3 | 50.9 | 45.9 | 3.2 | 47.8 | Q2:24-25 | 24.5 | 69.4 | 6.1 | 18.4 | 54.3 | 43.4 | 2.3 | 52.0 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 47.7 | 51.3 | 1.1 | 46.6 | ‘Increase’ in Inventories is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 28.1 | 69.2 | 2.7 | 25.3 | 51.2 | 47.5 | 1.3 | 49.8 | Q3:23-24 | 22.6 | 75.8 | 1.6 | 21.0 | 41.9 | 56.3 | 1.9 | 40.0 | Q4:23-24 | 29.1 | 66.2 | 4.8 | 24.3 | 34.1 | 65.9 | 0.0 | 34.1 | Q1:24-25 | 29.4 | 67.4 | 3.2 | 26.2 | 54.7 | 45.3 | 0.0 | 54.7 | Q2:24-25 | 23.0 | 72.5 | 4.5 | 18.5 | 57.2 | 42.5 | 0.2 | 57.0 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 58.6 | 41.1 | 0.3 | 58.3 | ‘Increase’ in Technical/Service Capacity is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 30.7 | 66.1 | 3.1 | 27.6 | 43.4 | 54.8 | 1.8 | 41.5 | Q3:23-24 | 21.7 | 76.6 | 1.6 | 20.1 | 23.3 | 75.8 | 0.9 | 22.3 | Q4:23-24 | 28.0 | 66.7 | 5.3 | 22.6 | 32.2 | 67.8 | 0.0 | 32.2 | Q1:24-25 | 27.4 | 69.3 | 3.2 | 24.2 | 53.8 | 45.7 | 0.5 | 53.2 | Q2:24-25 | 21.6 | 72.9 | 5.5 | 16.1 | 55.7 | 44.1 | 0.3 | 55.4 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 57.0 | 42.7 | 0.3 | 56.7 | ‘Increase’ in Physical Investment is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table S1 are applicable here. | Table S14: Estimated Spare Capacity for the Services Sector | Survey conducted during | Reference quarter | Response rate for the question on Spare Capacity (per cent) | Spare Capacity (per cent) | Q4:2020-21 | Q3:2020-21 | 73.4 | 13.9 | Q1:2021-22 | Q4:2020-21 | 25.0 | 13.3 | Q2:2021-22 | Q1:2021-22 | 69.3 | 24.8 | Q3:2021-22 | Q2:2021-22 | 64.4 | 11.1 | Q4:2021-22 | Q3:2021-22 | 40.8 | 13.0 | Q1:2022-23 | Q4:2021-22 | 58.3 | 17.4 | Q2:2022-23 | Q1:2022-23 | 79.5 | 13.5 | Q3:2022-23 | Q2:2022-23 | 25.2 | 12.6 | Q4:2022-23 | Q3:2022-23 | 63.0 | 13.8 | Q1:2023-24 | Q4:2022-23 | 79.8 | 13.6 | Q2:2023-24 | Q1:2023-24 | 84.3 | 12.3 | Q3:2023-24 | Q2:2023-24 | 74.0 | 11.8 | Q4:2023-24 | Q3:2023-24 | 74.8 | 11.7 | Q1:2024-25 | Q4:2023-24 | 78.8 | 11.3 | Q2:2024-25 | Q1:2024-25 | 71.5 | 11.2 | 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 | Q2:23-24 | 44.2 | 41.3 | 14.4 | 29.8 | 62.6 | 30.8 | 6.6 | 56.0 | Q3:23-24 | 44.2 | 45.8 | 10.0 | 34.2 | 67.3 | 29.8 | 2.9 | 64.4 | Q4:23-24 | 45.0 | 42.5 | 12.5 | 32.5 | 73.1 | 21.8 | 5.0 | 68.1 | Q1:24-25 | 37.7 | 51.3 | 11.0 | 26.6 | 70.3 | 25.4 | 4.2 | 66.1 | Q2:24-25 | 38.4 | 44.9 | 16.7 | 21.7 | 76.5 | 21.6 | 2.0 | 74.5 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 70.3 | 26.8 | 2.9 | 67.4 | ‘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 | Q2:23-24 | 46.2 | 39.4 | 14.4 | 31.7 | 61.1 | 33.3 | 5.6 | 55.6 | Q3:23-24 | 47.9 | 40.3 | 11.8 | 36.1 | 53.8 | 42.3 | 3.8 | 50.0 | Q4:23-24 | 42.5 | 42.5 | 15.0 | 27.5 | 75.6 | 22.7 | 1.7 | 73.9 | Q1:24-25 | 37.7 | 51.3 | 11.0 | 26.6 | 68.4 | 24.8 | 6.8 | 61.5 | Q2:24-25 | 41.3 | 42.8 | 15.9 | 25.4 | 73.2 | 23.5 | 3.3 | 69.9 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 73.2 | 24.6 | 2.2 | 71.0 | ‘Increase’ in Turnover is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 28.8 | 58.7 | 12.5 | 16.3 | 48.9 | 48.9 | 2.2 | 46.7 | Q3:23-24 | 32.5 | 57.3 | 10.3 | 22.2 | 42.3 | 54.8 | 2.9 | 39.4 | Q4:23-24 | 27.5 | 65.0 | 7.5 | 20.0 | 63.2 | 34.2 | 2.6 | 60.7 | Q1:24-25 | 31.2 | 59.1 | 9.7 | 21.4 | 47.5 | 51.7 | 0.8 | 46.6 | Q2:24-25 | 28.3 | 61.6 | 10.1 | 18.1 | 64.7 | 33.3 | 2.0 | 62.7 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 41.5 | 56.3 | 2.2 | 39.3 | ‘Increase’ in Full-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 37.9 | 55.2 | 6.9 | 31.0 | 50.9 | 45.3 | 3.8 | 47.2 | Q3:23-24 | 35.8 | 57.5 | 6.6 | 29.2 | 60.3 | 34.5 | 5.2 | 55.2 | Q4:23-24 | 29.2 | 66.3 | 4.5 | 24.7 | 68.3 | 31.7 | 0.0 | 68.3 | Q1:24-25 | 32.8 | 59.9 | 7.3 | 25.5 | 55.8 | 41.9 | 2.3 | 53.5 | Q2:24-25 | 21.5 | 66.7 | 11.8 | 9.7 | 63.7 | 33.3 | 3.0 | 60.7 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 54.3 | 40.2 | 5.4 | 48.9 | ‘Increase’ in Part-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 36.5 | 52.9 | 10.6 | 26.0 | 51.1 | 43.3 | 5.6 | 45.6 | Q3:23-24 | 36.7 | 57.5 | 5.8 | 30.8 | 46.6 | 49.5 | 3.9 | 42.7 | Q4:23-24 | 34.7 | 58.5 | 6.8 | 28.0 | 63.0 | 35.3 | 1.7 | 61.3 | Q1:24-25 | 35.1 | 59.1 | 5.8 | 29.2 | 58.6 | 40.5 | 0.9 | 57.8 | Q2:24-25 | 31.4 | 55.5 | 13.1 | 18.2 | 68.0 | 32.0 | 0.0 | 68.0 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 55.1 | 44.1 | 0.7 | 54.4 | ‘Improve’ in Availability of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 51.0 | 42.7 | 6.3 | -44.8 | 44.0 | 53.6 | 2.4 | -41.7 | Q3:23-24 | 38.2 | 55.5 | 6.4 | -31.8 | 54.2 | 45.8 | 0.0 | -54.2 | Q4:23-24 | 35.2 | 61.1 | 3.7 | -31.5 | 61.7 | 37.4 | 0.9 | -60.7 | Q1:24-25 | 36.4 | 56.3 | 7.3 | -29.1 | 60.4 | 38.7 | 0.9 | -59.4 | Q2:24-25 | 38.3 | 50.0 | 11.7 | -26.6 | 65.1 | 32.2 | 2.7 | -62.4 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 63.5 | 33.3 | 3.2 | -60.3 | ‘Decrease’ in Cost of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 42.7 | 50.5 | 6.8 | -35.9 | 47.8 | 52.2 | 0.0 | -47.8 | Q3:23-24 | 44.9 | 50.8 | 4.2 | -40.7 | 41.2 | 56.9 | 2.0 | -39.2 | Q4:23-24 | 27.7 | 70.6 | 1.7 | -26.1 | 59.8 | 39.3 | 0.9 | -59.0 | Q1:24-25 | 38.3 | 57.8 | 3.9 | -34.4 | 55.2 | 44.8 | 0.0 | -55.2 | Q2:24-25 | 31.9 | 63.0 | 5.1 | -26.8 | 70.6 | 29.4 | 0.0 | -70.6 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 43.1 | 56.9 | 0.0 | -43.1 | ‘Decrease’ in Salary/Wages is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 50.0 | 45.1 | 4.9 | -45.1 | 51.1 | 44.3 | 4.5 | -46.6 | Q3:23-24 | 52.1 | 43.6 | 4.3 | -47.9 | 52.0 | 41.0 | 7.0 | -45.0 | Q4:23-24 | 52.6 | 43.9 | 3.5 | -49.1 | 59.1 | 37.4 | 3.5 | -55.7 | Q1:24-25 | 42.2 | 51.7 | 6.1 | -36.1 | 63.4 | 36.6 | 0.0 | -63.4 | Q2:24-25 | 49.2 | 42.3 | 8.5 | -40.8 | 75.9 | 23.4 | 0.7 | -75.2 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 70.8 | 29.2 | 0.0 | -70.8 | ‘Decrease’ in Cost of Inputs is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 33.7 | 53.3 | 13.0 | 20.7 | 43.4 | 54.2 | 2.4 | 41.0 | Q3:23-24 | 37.0 | 54.0 | 9.0 | 28.0 | 42.4 | 53.3 | 4.3 | 38.0 | Q4:23-24 | 28.9 | 61.1 | 10.0 | 18.9 | 62.0 | 36.0 | 2.0 | 60.0 | Q1:24-25 | 30.8 | 60.0 | 9.2 | 21.5 | 60.7 | 33.7 | 5.6 | 55.1 | Q2:24-25 | 24.5 | 61.8 | 13.6 | 10.9 | 69.8 | 27.1 | 3.1 | 66.7 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 52.7 | 44.5 | 2.7 | 50.0 | ‘Increase’ in Selling Price is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 24.5 | 58.8 | 16.7 | 7.8 | 46.1 | 48.3 | 5.6 | 40.4 | Q3:23-24 | 35.0 | 55.0 | 10.0 | 25.0 | 37.3 | 56.9 | 5.9 | 31.4 | Q4:23-24 | 26.1 | 56.3 | 17.6 | 8.4 | 56.3 | 36.1 | 7.6 | 48.7 | Q1:24-25 | 28.6 | 59.7 | 11.7 | 16.9 | 54.7 | 38.5 | 6.8 | 47.9 | Q2:24-25 | 26.8 | 52.2 | 21.0 | 5.8 | 65.1 | 31.6 | 3.3 | 61.8 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 45.7 | 49.3 | 5.1 | 40.6 | ‘Increase’ in Profit Margin is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 42.1 | 52.6 | 5.3 | 36.8 | 36.7 | 60.0 | 3.3 | 33.3 | Q3:23-24 | 41.7 | 53.4 | 4.9 | 36.9 | 60.5 | 36.8 | 2.6 | 57.9 | Q4:23-24 | 34.0 | 62.1 | 3.9 | 30.1 | 75.2 | 23.8 | 1.0 | 74.3 | Q1:24-25 | 34.8 | 59.4 | 5.8 | 29.0 | 58.0 | 39.0 | 3.0 | 55.0 | Q2:24-25 | 30.4 | 59.8 | 9.8 | 20.5 | 71.5 | 27.0 | 1.5 | 70.1 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 59.1 | 38.2 | 2.7 | 56.4 | ‘Increase’ in Inventories is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 38.3 | 59.6 | 2.1 | 36.2 | 51.2 | 48.8 | 0.0 | 51.2 | Q3:23-24 | 39.8 | 55.9 | 4.3 | 35.5 | 66.7 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 66.7 | Q4:23-24 | 32.5 | 64.9 | 2.6 | 29.9 | 75.0 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 75.0 | Q1:24-25 | 36.2 | 59.5 | 4.3 | 31.9 | 66.2 | 32.4 | 1.4 | 64.9 | Q2:24-25 | 30.9 | 57.4 | 11.8 | 19.1 | 79.1 | 20.9 | 0.0 | 79.1 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 72.5 | 27.5 | 0.0 | 72.5 | ‘Increase’ in Technical/Service Capacity is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 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 | Q2:23-24 | 38.0 | 58.2 | 3.8 | 34.2 | 36.8 | 60.3 | 2.9 | 33.8 | Q3:23-24 | 35.8 | 60.0 | 4.2 | 31.6 | 46.8 | 53.2 | 0.0 | 46.8 | Q4:23-24 | 28.6 | 68.8 | 2.6 | 26.0 | 75.3 | 24.7 | 0.0 | 75.3 | Q1:24-25 | 33.1 | 61.2 | 5.8 | 27.3 | 64.0 | 36.0 | 0.0 | 64.0 | Q2:24-25 | 36.5 | 52.7 | 10.8 | 25.7 | 75.8 | 24.2 | 0.0 | 75.8 | Q3:24-25 | | | | | 75.3 | 24.7 | 0.0 | 75.3 | ‘Increase’ in Physical Investment is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table I1 are applicable here. | |