NCAER Biz Confidence Index Declines

New Delhi: Business confidence in India declined in the first quarter of the financial year by 8.8 per cent from the last quarter of the previous fiscal.The latest quarterly Business Expectations Survey for July 2007 by economic think tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) saw the Business Confidence Index (BCI) declining across sectors for the second consecutive quarter. In April, the index had fell by 3.8 per cent over its January level. The BCI''s fall in the current round should be seen in the context of slower momentum of economic activity, which is normal for the first quarter of any financial year.

The decline from the first quarter of the previous financial year is also 8 per cent. The decline is across sectors, in terms of the following four main components overall economic conditions, investment climate, financial position of the firms and capacity utilisation. The fall, at 15.6 per cent, was the sharpest in the capital goods sector. Services witnessed a fall of 18.7 points, the intermediate goods sector 10.3 points, the consumer durable goods sector 6 points and the non-durables sector 4 points. The decline is the highest in the northern region and the lowest in the southern region. Big and small firms showed less buoyancy than mid-sized firms.