India’s pvt sector activity growth eases in April

The Dollar Business Bureau

India’s private sector activity eased slightly in the month of April, in the wake of slower growth in inflows of new businesses in the services sector, while the manufacturing sector is still struggling to get into the motion, revealed a survey on Wednesday.

The Composite Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) of Nikkei India, which records manufacturing as well as services sector, declined from the 37-month high of 54.3 in March 2016 to 52.8 last month, indicating a slower expansion in the activity of private sector across India.

An economist at Markit, Pollyanna De Lima said that having grown to the 37-month high during March, India’s private sector activity growth eased a little in April.

She further said that manufacturers in India seem to be still struggling to create a robust momentum of growth due to lower demand environment, whereas considerable increase in activities and new businesses continued among service providers.

In the meantime, the Services Business Activity Index of Nikkei fell to 53.7 in April from 54.3 in March.

As there is a decline in unfinished business, the survey pointed out that data in April showed a common lack of pressure on the service providers’ capacity.

The survey also revealed that employment in services sector was unaffected in April. A stagnant trend in employment has now been witnessed through the last nine months. In the interim, payroll numbers in the manufacturing sector remained unchanged.

“However, a lower expansion in the activity, collectively with stagnant employment and a decline in business expectations point out that firms are not fully satisfied about the recovery and that the stronger numbers in March could be a one-off,” Lima added.