Economic think-tank the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in its latest report has stated that business confidence index (BCI) improved in the January-March period of this year (Q4FY22) and would remain buoyant in the coming months. It said the BCI increased for the third consecutive quarter by 14.9 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis from 124.4 points in October-December period of 2021–22 to 142.9 points in the fourth quarter.
The upward movement in the BCI was driven by an improvement in sentiments for all the four components of the BCI -- 'overall economic conditions will improve in the next six months', 'financial position of firms will improve in the next six months', 'present investment climate is positive as compared with six months ago', and 'present capacity utilisation is close to or above the optimal level'.
NCAER further said the business sentiments for the next six months were relatively more buoyant with regard to domestic parameters like production, domestic sales and ex-factory prices than external parameters like exports and imports of raw materials. It said the sentiments of firms pertaining to the hiring of workers over the last three months were relatively stagnant in last quarter of 2021–22 as compared to the preceding three months, but future sentiments about hiring over the next six months exhibited resilience.
