Activity in India's services sector improved further in August on the back of fastest rise in new orders in five months, but businesses were less optimistic going ahead. The Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index rose to 51.8 from 50.8 in July, indicating rising growth.
A reading above 50 on this survey-based index shows expansion.
The pickup in services boosted the Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index, which captures output in both services and manufacturing. The composite index rose to a five-month high of 52.6 from 52.0 in July.
The upbeat data comes following disappointing set of macro numbers that showed the economy grew 7% in April-June quarter, below expectation and the 7.5% growth recorded in the previous quarter.
Core sector growth slowed to 1.1% in July and auto sales were below expectation in August. The data has triggered call for further reduction in interest rates.
Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan had left the benchmark lending rate (repo rate) unchanged at 7.25% in the last monetary policy review on August 4. The next review is due on September 29.
Chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian had on Wednesday said deflation was a bigger worry for the economy going ahead.
The survey said higher demand coupled with capacity improvements and increased marketing had contributed to the latest expansion in new business.
The survey showed both manufacturers and service providers left payroll numbers unchanged in August, with significant job creation not seen since early 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment