Indian private business sector growing, but slowly: Survey

The Dollar Business Bureau Indian private sector business activity rose for the twelfth consecutive month, albeit at the weakest pace since October, says a HSBC Report. In its latest survey, The HSBC Emerging Markets Index (EMI), the report said that emerging markets registered a further moderation in the rate of economic growth in April. The HSBC Emerging Markets Index (EMI), a monthly indicator derived from the PMI™ surveys, fell to 51.3, from 51.5 in March. The latest figure signalled the weakest rate of expansion since January, and the average over the first quarter (51.6) was well below the average since the series started in late-2005 (53.6). The EMI is broadly consistent with emerging market GDP rising at an annual rate of around 5%. The slowdown mainly reflected a weaker rise in manufacturing output, where the rate of growth was the weakest in a year. Services activity increased at a rate little-changed from March’s moderate pace. China registered the weakest rise in output since January. Indian private sector business activity meanwhile rose for the twelfth consecutive month, albeit at the weakest pace since October, while Brazil saw the sharpest drop in over six years. On a brighter note, Russia posted a rise in output for the first time since last September, albeit at only a weak rate, the report said. New business growth in emerging markets was unchanged from March’s ten-month low, and backlogs of work declined at the strongest rate since July 2013. Input prices rose at the weakest rate in three months and manufacturing input prices declined, mainly reflecting a sharp fall in China. Input price inflation in the Russian manufacturing sector eased sharply to a 15- month low. Meanwhile, prices charged for goods and services in emerging markets were unchanged during the month.    

May 8, 2015 | 8:32 pm IST.