June manufacturing sees fastest growth in 2018; inflation remains a worry

Manufacturing activity touched a six-month high in June but the outlook remained shadowed by an expected rise in inflation and consequent tighter monetary stance by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), according to the widely-tracked purchasing managers’ index (PMI). 

PMI went up from 51.2 points in May to 53.1 in June. Owing to the June figure, PMI for manufacturing stood at 51.9 points in the first quarter of 2018-19 against 51.8 points in the fourth quarter of 2017-18. 

This may have some impact on gross domestic product (GDP) figures for the Q1 of FY’19 even as there is no one-to-one correspondence between