Private sector in India expects demand conditions to remain favourable: HSBC India Business Outlook
The HSBC India Business Outlook report, compiled by S&P Global, has showed that private sector companies in India expect demand conditions to remain favourable over the course of the coming 12 months, on the back of new projects in the pipeline and product differentiation, alongside advertising and tech investment. The report further noted that although levels of positive sentiment slipped since last October, they outpaced the respective global averages.
On the inflation front, relatively softer cost pressures in India enabled businesses to adopt more competitive pricing strategies in international markets. While services firms were slightly more likely to predict an uptick in staff costs than manufacturers, the opposite was registered for non-staff expenses. In all cases, however, cost inflation expectations moderated since late last year.
According to the report, predictions of demand strength, softer cost pressure and maintained price power underpinned upbeat forecasts towards profitability. Besides, to facilitate output growth, private sector companies in India intend to recruit additional workers in the year ahead. Nevertheless, hiring plans were at their lowest for a year. Services firms were slightly more upbeat towards job creation than goods producers.
