Biz confidence index rises 9% in Oct.- Dec.

New Delhi, Feb. 12: Business Confidence Index rose 9.1 per cent in December quarter 2017 over the previous three months as overall sentiment remained buoyant, a survey by economic think tank NCAER said on Monday.

The NCAER Business Confidence Index ( N- BCI) had declined 12.9 per cent in the September quarter as the economy was still adjusting to the implementation of GST, affecting business sentiment, it said.

“Overall, sentiment regarding production, domestic sales, exports, imports of raw materials, and pretax profits remained buoyant in October- December 2017 over July- September 2017,” said the survey.

These improved sentiment, it added, were broad- based with all the sectors showing increasing trends for all these components between the two periods.

Further, there was a considerable improvement in the situation pertaining to labour employment and wages over the last three months, and expectations about future labour employment and wages were optimistic, it said.

NCAER ( National Council of Applied Economic Research) is one of the India’s oldest economic think tanks, set up in 1956 at the behest of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, to inform policy choices for both public and private sectors.