Services sector grows fastest since October 2016 to 54.2 in July: PMI

Price pressures, among other factors, to keep central bank on toes

Unlike manufacturing, the services sector expanded at a 21-month high in July, showed widely-tracked purchasing managers' index (PMI), justifying the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) move to hike the policy rate to contain inflation.    

In fact, price pressures remain in July even after moderating from June, and the author of the report states the pressure on the central bank to hike the rate in the coming months. High services growth led to companies jacking up their hiring levels, the fastest since April. 

The PMI rose from 52.6 in June to 54.2 in July, as new businesses rose at