Cost of credit not up since last summer: KPMG

About 54 per cent of the Indian companies surveyed said that the current cost of credit is not higher as compared to the condition prior to financial market turmoil that started last summer.     

Even the availability of credit has not been severely affected. Half of the Indian companies participating in the survey, conducted for all BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries, said that credit availability has improved as compared to the situation last summer.     

Around 58 per cent of the companies in the country expect higher profits in next one year. "Indian firms were the most optimistic (of all the BRIC countries) regarding profit," the survey mentioned. Rest of the 42 per cent Indian companies anticipate the same level of profits in the coming year.     

Companies of about 58 per cent in the country said they expect their staffing cost would remain the same in the next one year, while the rest anticipate a rise in their labour cost.     
As for all the participating countries, "Volumes of new business placed with BRIC service providers are expected to rise over a marked pace over the coming year. Growth of new work is anticipated at 58 per cent of companies," the survey noted.     

The survey further added, "Company profitability at BRIC service providers is predicted to increase strongly over the next year, with over half of the respondents anticipating a rise".    

The KPMG survey is conducted four times every year covering manufacturing in January and July and services in April and October.