Recovery in business confidence continues for 2nd quarter: D&B

The D&B Composite Business Optimism Index stood at 81.1 during the second quarter of 2016

India Inc's business optimism index remained stable for the April-June quarter of this year, thanks to a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India and the government's recent policy reforms, a Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) report says.

The D&B Composite Business Optimism Index stood at 81.1 during the second quarter of 2016, an increase of 1.1% as compared to April-June period of 2015.

"The recovery in business confidence that started from the first quarter of 2016 has remained intact during the second quarter as well. This signifies the stabilising business sentiment prevalent in the economy," D&B India President & Managing Director Kaushal Sampat said.

Sampat said that the factors that seem to have boosted the confidence levels of corporate India include delivering a Budget that adheres to the fiscal consolidation road-map and the fact that stalled projects were at a 30-quarter low in December 2015.

Going forward, it is the progress of the monsoon that will play a crucial role in shaping business sentiment.

"The possible acceleration on the labour reform front through the introduction of new labour bills, the bankruptcy code and amendments to the SARFAESI Act during the second half of the Budget session also hold promise to boost business confidence," he added.

For calculating the composite business optimism index, each of the six parameters – net sales, net profits, selling prices, new orders, inventories and employee levels – is assigned a weight. The parameter weights are then applied to these ratios and the results aggregated.