India's companies aren't as optimistic as RBI on economic growth prospects

Companies were also less optimistic about the availability of finance for the first quarter of the fiscal year, the RBI survey showed

India’s central bank appears optimistic about economic growth prospects, expecting demand and investment to underpin a recovery this year. The nation’s companies aren’t so sure.

A survey of 1,250 manufacturing firms conducted by the Reserve Bank of India shows they’re no longer so confident of an upturn in domestic demand. The companies’ outlook for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2019 worsened across all indicators barring exports and imports, the survey found.

It’s not just businesses: Consumer confidence is also flagging, a challenge for those firms pinning their hopes on consumption picking up. Demand has been hit