Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey for Q4:2021-22

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Published on April 08, 2022

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Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey for Q4:2021-22

Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of 32nd round of its quarterly services and infrastructure outlook survey (SIOS) conducted during Q4:2021-22. This forward-looking survey captures qualitative assessment and expectations of Indian companies in the services and infrastructure sectors on a set of business parameters relating to demand conditions, price situation and other business conditions. 574 companies provided their assessment for Q4:2021-22 and expectations for Q1:2022-23 in the latest round of the survey¹. Owing to uncertainties emanating from the COVID-19 pandemic, an additional block was included in this round of the survey for assessing the outlook on key parameters for two quarters ahead as well as three quarters ahead.

Highlights:

A. Services Sector

Assessment for Q4:2021-22

Service sector enterprises were less positive on the prevailing overall business situation as well as their turnover and employment conditions during Q4:2021-22 compared to the previous quarter (Chart 1 and Table A).
Respondents assessed higher pressure stemming from cost of inputs and marginal improvement in selling price during the quarter.
Sentiments on profit margins in Q4:2021-22 were muted.

Expectations for Q1:2022-23

Respondents exhibited high optimism in their demand conditions in terms of overall business situation, turnover and employment conditions in Q1:2022-23 (Table A) though the expectations were lower vis-à-vis the previous survey round.
Cost burden is likely to remain at elevated level although some moderation is expected as compared to the previous quarter.
Firms expressed guarded optimism for both selling price and profit margin in Q1:2022-23.

Expectations for Q2:2022-23 and Q3:2022-23

Demand parameters in the services sector are expected to expand further in successive quarters (Table C).
Services firms expect elevated input cost burden; a significant portion of which is expected to be transmitted to selling prices.

B. Infrastructure Sector

Assessment for Q4:2021-22

Infrastructure companies polled continued expansion though with lower optimism on overall business situation as well as turnover (Chart 2 and Table B).
Employment conditions remained subdued for infrastructure companies in Q4:2021-22.
Respondents gauged higher pressure from input prices and some moderation in selling price growth; their assessment on profit margins abated in Q4:2021-22.
Respondents reported guarded optimism on availability of finance.

Expectations for Q1:2022-23

Demand parameters in the infrastructure sector are expected to expand at a slower pace in Q1:2022-23 (Chart 2 and Table B).
Infrastructure sector firms expressed lower optimism for both selling price growth and profit margin in Q1:2022-23.

Expectations for Q2:2022-23 and Q3:2022-23

Overall business situation and turnover are likely to expand in ensuing quarters although optimism waned a bit (Table D).
Job landscape is expected to improve slowly in successive quarters.

Summary of Net Responses² on Survey Parameters
Table A: Services Sector
(per cent)
Parameters	Assessment period		Expectations period
Parameters	Q3:2021-22	Q4:2021-22	Q4:2021-22	Q1:2022-23
Overall Business Situation	28.2	17.3	64.8	53.4
Turnover	24.7	14.9	63.1	51.1
Full-time Employees	11.8	1.7	47.2	22.6
Part-time Employees	15.2	7.4	54.8	17.8
Availability of Finance	12.4	10.5	47.3	28.2
Cost of Finance	-12.6	-6.0	-41.2	-14.5
Salary & Wages	-17.2	-19.8	-48.5	-36.3
Cost of Inputs	-43.5	-59.9	-72.4	-58.7
Selling Price	13.0	14.0	51.4	24.9
Profit Margin	0.7	-11.1	40.1	19.1
Inventories	16.0	8.3	51.5	18.2
Technical/Service Capacity	18.8	18.9	64.3	29.4
Physical Investment	15.8	15.2	60.3	25.3

Table B: Infrastructure Sector
(per cent)
Parameters	Assessment period		Expectations period
Parameters	Q3:2021-22	Q4:2021-22	Q4:2021-22	Q1:2022-23
Overall Business Situation	27.9	23.5	71.3	53.1
Turnover	28.1	21.3	66.7	40.0
Full-time Employees	12.7	5.0	48.5	17.9
Part-time Employees	23.5	-2.2	71.1	15.9
Availability of Finance	17.9	8.8	61.9	25.0
Cost of Finance	-20.3	-21.9	-57.0	-25.4
Salary & Wages	-18.7	-20.0	-59.0	-37.5
Cost of Inputs	-53.8	-74.6	-81.5	-78.9
Selling Price	21.6	16.1	65.5	23.2
Profit Margin	5.9	-26.6	47.8	12.7
Inventories	21.9	12.8	61.4	20.0
Technical/Service Capacity	26.4	17.9	75.6	28.6
Physical Investment	29.0	10.3	75.3	17.2

Expectations of Select Parameters for extended period – Net response
(in per cent)
Table C: Services Sector
Parameter	Round 31	Round 32
Parameter	Q4:2021-22	Q1:2022-23	Q2:2022-23	Q3:2022-23
Overall Business Situation	64.8	53.4	59.2	60.9
Turnover	63.1	51.1	57.8	60.7
Full-time Employees	47.2	22.6	26.2	31.5
Part-time Employees	54.8	17.8	29.8	29.2
Cost of Inputs	-72.4	-58.7	-58.0	-57.8
Selling Price	51.4	24.9	34.4	28.9

Table D: Infrastructure Sector
Parameter	Round 31	Round 32
Parameter	Q4:2021-22	Q1:2022-23	Q2:2022-23	Q3:2022-23
Overall Business Situation	71.3	53.1	47.5	46.8
Turnover	66.7	40.0	42.5	41.3
Full-time Employees	48.5	17.9	19.5	22.1
Part-time Employees	71.1	15.9	29.4	26.5
Cost of Inputs	-81.5	-78.9	-69.2	-67.7
Selling Price	65.5	23.2	37.0	35.2

Note: Please see the excel file for time series data.

Services Sector

Table S1: Assessment and Expectation for Overall Business Situation
(Percentage responses)^@
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Better	No Change	Worse	Net response^#	Better	No Change	Worse	Net response
Q4:20-21	39.2	42.4	18.3	20.9	50.4	43.7	5.9	44.5
Q1:21-22	22.8	38.5	38.7	-15.9	59.3	31.5	9.2	50.1
Q2:21-22	38.7	46.8	14.5	24.2	51.9	41.1	6.9	45.0
Q3:21-22	41.9	44.3	13.8	28.2	75.3	22.3	2.4	72.9
Q4:21-22	40.7	36.0	23.4	17.3	68.3	28.2	3.5	64.8
Q1:22-23					56.6	40.1	3.3	53.4
‘Increase’ in Overall business situation is optimistic. @: Due to rounding off percentage may not add up to 100. #: Net Response (NR) is the difference of percentage of the respondents reporting optimism and that reporting pessimism. The range is -100 to 100. Any value greater than zero indicates expansion/ optimism and any value less than zero indicates contraction/ pessimism.

Table S2: Assessment and Expectation for Turnover
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	38.1	41.6	20.3	17.7	48.6	41.1	10.3	38.4
Q1:21-22	20.5	39.7	39.7	-19.2	62.3	29.1	8.6	53.7
Q2:21-22	38.8	43.4	17.8	21.0	49.0	42.2	8.8	40.1
Q3:21-22	41.5	41.7	16.8	24.7	75.0	21.4	3.7	71.3
Q4:21-22	41.0	32.9	26.1	14.9	67.2	28.6	4.1	63.1
Q1:22-23					55.5	40.2	4.3	51.1
‘Increase’ in Turnover is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S3: Assessment and Expectation for Full-time Employees
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	19.6	66.3	14.1	5.6	22.9	69.5	7.5	15.4
Q1:21-22	14.4	64.6	21.0	-6.6	35.2	58.2	6.6	28.7
Q2:21-22	26.5	62.7	10.8	15.6	34.4	61.7	3.9	30.5
Q3:21-22	23.0	65.9	11.2	11.8	55.5	41.9	2.6	52.9
Q4:21-22	20.1	61.5	18.4	1.7	49.7	47.9	2.4	47.2
Q1:22-23					27.0	68.6	4.4	22.6
‘Increase’ in Full-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S4: Assessment and Expectation for Part-time Employees
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	16.3	72.1	11.6	4.7	15.0	76.7	8.3	6.6
Q1:21-22	16.8	70.8	12.4	4.3	26.6	66.3	7.1	19.4
Q2:21-22	25.3	70.7	4.0	21.2	43.2	52.7	4.1	39.1
Q3:21-22	22.6	69.9	7.4	15.2	70.3	27.0	2.7	67.6
Q4:21-22	18.5	70.4	11.1	7.4	57.5	39.7	2.7	54.8
Q1:22-23					25.0	67.8	7.2	17.8
‘Increase’ in Part-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S5: Assessment and Expectation for Availability of Finance
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Improve	No Change	Worsen	Net response	Improve	No Change	Worsen	Net response
Q4:20-21	31.0	52.7	16.4	14.6	25.5	65.9	8.6	16.9
Q1:21-22	14.2	60.6	25.2	-11.0	47.6	43.9	8.5	39.1
Q2:21-22	28.4	57.6	14.0	14.4	40.5	54.4	5.1	35.5
Q3:21-22	25.6	61.1	13.3	12.4	59.8	37.5	2.6	57.2
Q4:21-22	32.2	46.2	21.6	10.5	50.7	45.9	3.4	47.3
Q1:22-23					33.5	61.3	5.2	28.2
‘Improve’ in Availability of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S6: Assessment and Expectation for Cost of Finance
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	19.0	65.9	15.1	-3.9	17.0	74.6	8.5	-8.5
Q1:21-22	18.6	65.9	15.5	-3.0	34.1	54.2	11.8	-22.3
Q2:21-22	25.8	66.3	7.9	-17.9	41.2	54.7	4.1	-37.2
Q3:21-22	19.5	73.6	6.9	-12.6	56.0	41.2	2.7	-53.3
Q4:21-22	15.5	75.0	9.5	-6.0	43.6	54.0	2.4	-41.2
Q1:22-23					17.3	79.9	2.8	-14.5
‘Decrease’ in Cost of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S7: Assessment and Expectation for Salary/Wages
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	24.5	67.3	8.3	-16.2	26.4	67.6	6.0	-20.3
Q1:21-22	16.4	72.1	11.4	-5.0	45.2	51.2	3.6	-41.6
Q2:21-22	29.0	63.6	7.4	-21.7	34.8	62.5	2.8	-32.0
Q3:21-22	24.0	69.2	6.8	-17.2	53.4	44.9	1.7	-51.7
Q4:21-22	24.1	71.6	4.3	-19.8	49.6	49.3	1.1	-48.5
Q1:22-23					37.0	62.4	0.6	-36.3
‘Decrease’ in Salary/Wages is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S8: Assessment and Expectation for Cost of Inputs
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	31.4	62.5	6.0	-25.4	34.0	61.1	4.8	-29.2
Q1:21-22	34.6	57.8	7.6	-27.0	46.0	51.1	2.9	-43.2
Q2:21-22	44.4	52.8	2.7	-41.7	47.5	50.2	2.3	-45.2
Q3:21-22	47.5	48.5	4.0	-43.5	69.3	30.3	0.4	-68.8
Q4:21-22	63.5	32.9	3.6	-59.9	73.1	26.1	0.8	-72.4
Q1:22-23					61.0	36.6	2.3	-58.7
‘Decrease’ in Cost of Inputs is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S9: Assessment and Expectation for Selling Price
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	20.4	62.9	16.7	3.6	11.3	77.7	11.0	0.3
Q1:21-22	19.1	73.0	7.9	11.1	37.5	56.1	6.3	31.2
Q2:21-22	24.2	68.4	7.4	16.8	39.2	58.9	1.9	37.2
Q3:21-22	22.4	68.2	9.4	13.0	62.3	35.6	2.1	60.2
Q4:21-22	24.2	65.7	10.2	14.0	54.1	43.1	2.8	51.4
Q1:22-23					29.5	65.9	4.6	24.9
‘Increase’ in Selling Price is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S10: Assessment and Expectation for Profit Margin
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	20.7	53.1	26.2	-5.6	21.6	58.3	20.2	1.4
Q1:21-22	13.5	53.0	33.5	-20.0	44.5	43.5	12.0	32.5
Q2:21-22	22.4	55.7	21.9	0.6	38.6	51.7	9.7	28.9
Q3:21-22	21.2	58.3	20.5	0.7	55.0	38.8	6.2	48.8
Q4:21-22	21.2	46.4	32.4	-11.1	46.5	47.0	6.5	40.1
Q1:22-23					28.9	61.3	9.8	19.1
‘Increase’ in Profit Margin is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S11: Assessment and Expectation for Inventories
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	15.0	73.7	11.3	3.6	20.6	71.2	8.3	12.3
Q1:21-22	14.4	73.3	12.3	2.1	29.6	61.9	8.5	21.1
Q2:21-22	25.5	66.4	8.1	17.4	36.0	60.1	3.9	32.0
Q3:21-22	23.5	69.0	7.5	16.0	62.8	34.8	2.4	60.4
Q4:21-22	18.9	70.6	10.6	8.3	54.9	41.8	3.4	51.5
Q1:22-23					22.9	72.5	4.7	18.2
‘Increase’ in Inventories is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S12: Assessment and Expectation for Technical/Service Capacity
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	25.5	70.5	4.0	21.5	16.8	79.4	3.8	13.1
Q1:21-22	18.6	76.4	4.9	13.7	42.5	55.9	1.6	40.9
Q2:21-22	29.3	69.3	1.4	27.9	44.4	54.0	1.7	42.7
Q3:21-22	23.1	72.5	4.3	18.8	73.7	25.7	0.6	73.2
Q4:21-22	23.7	71.6	4.7	18.9	65.1	34.1	0.8	64.3
Q1:22-23					31.3	66.9	1.8	29.4
‘Increase’ in Technical/Service Capacity is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table S13: Assessment and Expectation for Physical Investment
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	18.0	76.4	5.6	12.4	14.0	80.8	5.2	8.7
Q1:21-22	14.6	80.2	5.3	9.3	34.7	61.8	3.6	31.1
Q2:21-22	27.6	70.8	1.6	26.0	42.8	55.9	1.3	41.5
Q3:21-22	20.7	74.4	4.9	15.8	68.8	30.7	0.5	68.2
Q4:21-22	20.5	74.3	5.3	15.2	61.5	37.4	1.1	60.3
Q1:22-23					27.7	69.9	2.4	25.3
‘Increase’ in Physical Investment is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Infrastructure Sector

Table I1: Assessment and Expectation for Overall Business Situation
(Percentage responses)^@
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Better	No Change	Worse	Net response#	Better	No Change	Worse	Net response
Q4:20-21	42.0	36.4	21.6	20.5	47.1	43.5	9.4	37.7
Q1:21-22	16.7	39.5	43.8	-27.0	70.2	23.8	6.0	64.3
Q2:21-22	35.0	40.8	24.2	10.8	56.6	37.4	6.0	50.5
Q3:21-22	41.9	44.1	14.0	27.9	71.3	26.7	2.1	69.2
Q4:21-22	46.9	29.6	23.5	23.5	75.7	19.9	4.4	71.3
Q1:22-23					59.3	34.6	6.2	53.1
‘Increase’ in Overall business situation is optimistic. @: Due to rounding off percentage may not add up to 100. #: Net Response (NR) is the difference of percentage of the respondents reporting optimism and that reporting pessimism. The range is -100 to 100. Any value greater than zero indicates expansion/ optimism and any value less than zero indicates contraction/ pessimism.

Table I2: Assessment and Expectation for Turnover
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	47.7	32.6	19.8	27.9	41.8	48.2	9.9	31.9
Q1:21-22	13.9	41.6	44.5	-30.6	61.2	34.1	4.7	56.5
Q2:21-22	29.6	43.8	26.7	2.9	51.1	41.8	7.1	43.9
Q3:21-22	40.7	46.7	12.6	28.1	67.9	27.5	4.6	63.3
Q4:21-22	45.0	31.3	23.8	21.3	73.3	20.0	6.7	66.7
Q1:22-23					51.3	37.5	11.3	40.0
‘Increase’ in Turnover is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I3: Assessment and Expectation for Full-time Employees
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	11.9	69.0	19.0	-7.1	14.3	74.3	11.4	2.9
Q1:21-22	9.3	64.6	26.1	-16.8	31.3	61.4	7.2	24.1
Q2:21-22	20.4	61.7	17.9	2.5	36.1	59.9	4.0	32.1
Q3:21-22	20.1	72.4	7.5	12.7	50.0	45.8	4.2	45.8
Q4:21-22	12.5	80.0	7.5	5.0	54.5	39.6	6.0	48.5
Q1:22-23					23.1	71.8	5.1	17.9
‘Increase’ in Full-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I4: Assessment and Expectation for Part-time Employees
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	15.3	73.6	11.1	4.2	12.6	77.8	9.6	3.0
Q1:21-22	11.0	74.7	14.3	-3.3	23.5	67.6	8.8	14.7
Q2:21-22	23.5	72.5	3.9	19.6	52.5	44.2	3.3	49.2
Q3:21-22	24.5	74.5	1.0	23.5	69.3	28.8	2.0	67.3
Q4:21-22	4.4	88.9	6.7	-2.2	73.2	24.7	2.1	71.1
Q1:22-23					20.5	75.0	4.5	15.9
‘Increase’ in Part-time Employees is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I5: Assessment and Expectation for Availability of Finance
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Improve	No Change	Worsen	Net response	Improve	No Change	Worsen	Net response
Q4:20-21	24.7	57.6	17.6	7.1	23.0	64.0	12.9	10.1
Q1:21-22	10.0	57.9	32.1	-22.1	35.7	53.6	10.7	25.0
Q2:21-22	26.7	52.5	20.8	5.8	44.9	48.5	6.6	38.3
Q3:21-22	27.6	62.7	9.7	17.9	56.1	39.7	4.2	51.9
Q4:21-22	31.3	46.3	22.5	8.8	66.4	29.1	4.5	61.9
Q1:22-23					28.8	67.5	3.8	25.0
‘Improve’ in Availability of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I6: Assessment and Expectation for Cost of Finance
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	25.0	66.7	8.3	-16.7	24.6	68.1	7.2	-17.4
Q1:21-22	15.9	63.0	21.0	5.1	31.7	67.1	1.2	-30.5
Q2:21-22	23.1	65.5	11.3	-11.8	44.6	51.7	3.7	-41.0
Q3:21-22	24.2	71.9	3.9	-20.3	49.8	47.7	2.6	-47.2
Q4:21-22	27.4	67.1	5.5	-21.9	59.4	38.3	2.3	-57.0
Q1:22-23					26.8	71.8	1.4	-25.4
‘Decrease’ in Cost of Finance is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I7: Assessment and Expectation for Salary/Wages
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	19.0	72.6	8.3	-10.7	22.5	71.7	5.8	-16.7
Q1:21-22	11.5	73.8	14.7	3.2	45.6	48.1	6.3	-39.2
Q2:21-22	23.8	65.8	10.4	-13.3	40.7	56.4	2.9	-37.8
Q3:21-22	22.4	73.9	3.7	-18.7	51.3	46.2	2.5	-48.7
Q4:21-22	23.8	72.5	3.8	-20.0	59.0	41.0	0.0	-59.0
Q1:22-23					38.8	60.0	1.3	-37.5
‘Decrease’ in Salary/Wages is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I8: Assessment and Expectation for Cost of Inputs
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	46.1	52.6	1.3	-44.7	42.2	56.3	1.5	-40.7
Q1:21-22	41.9	53.5	4.6	-37.3	47.2	50.0	2.8	-44.4
Q2:21-22	55.9	42.7	1.3	-54.6	62.4	37.6	0.0	-62.4
Q3:21-22	53.8	46.2	0.0	-53.8	76.5	23.0	0.4	-76.1
Q4:21-22	77.5	19.7	2.8	-74.6	83.1	15.4	1.5	-81.5
Q1:22-23					80.3	18.3	1.4	-78.9
‘Decrease’ in Cost of Inputs is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I9: Assessment and Expectation for Selling Price
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	23.9	56.3	19.7	4.2	15.2	72.8	12.0	3.2
Q1:21-22	12.7	75.6	11.8	0.9	33.3	52.2	14.5	18.8
Q2:21-22	25.8	62.6	11.6	14.1	51.8	46.8	1.4	50.5
Q3:21-22	27.0	67.6	5.4	21.6	59.9	38.1	2.0	57.9
Q4:21-22	21.4	73.2	5.4	16.1	66.4	32.7	0.9	65.5
Q1:22-23					25.0	73.2	1.8	23.2
‘Increase’ in Selling Price is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I10: Assessment and Expectation for Profit Margin
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	18.5	51.9	29.6	-11.1	21.0	54.3	24.6	-3.6
Q1:21-22	8.6	52.0	39.4	-30.8	39.2	44.3	16.5	22.8
Q2:21-22	19.2	51.9	28.9	-9.6	42.3	50.0	7.7	34.7
Q3:21-22	26.5	52.9	20.6	5.9	49.8	43.5	6.7	43.1
Q4:21-22	19.0	35.4	45.6	-26.6	57.4	33.1	9.6	47.8
Q1:22-23					27.8	57.0	15.2	12.7
‘Increase’ in Profit Margin is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I11: Assessment and Expectation for Inventories
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	28.9	60.5	10.5	18.4	16.8	73.3	9.9	6.9
Q1:21-22	10.9	79.2	10.0	0.9	33.8	59.2	7.0	26.8
Q2:21-22	25.1	66.1	8.7	16.4	45.2	52.1	2.8	42.4
Q3:21-22	26.3	69.3	4.4	21.9	58.6	36.5	5.0	53.6
Q4:21-22	19.1	74.5	6.4	12.8	64.9	31.6	3.5	61.4
Q1:22-23					24.4	71.1	4.4	20.0
‘Increase’ in Inventories is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I12: Assessment and Expectation for Technical/Service Capacity
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	20.6	69.8	9.5	11.1	10.0	85.0	5.0	5.0
Q1:21-22	12.1	81.9	6.0	6.0	28.6	64.3	7.1	21.4
Q2:21-22	29.6	66.7	3.7	25.9	70.3	29.1	0.7	69.6
Q3:21-22	27.5	71.4	1.1	26.4	82.1	16.4	1.5	80.6
Q4:21-22	28.6	60.7	10.7	17.9	76.7	22.2	1.1	75.6
Q1:22-23					32.1	64.3	3.6	28.6
‘Increase’ in Technical/Service Capacity is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

Table I13: Assessment and Expectation for Physical Investment
(Percentage responses)
Quarter	Assessment				Expectation
Quarter	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Net response
Q4:20-21	14.3	79.4	6.3	7.9	14.8	77.4	7.8	7.0
Q1:21-22	15.9	79.0	5.1	10.8	29.0	66.1	4.8	24.2
Q2:21-22	28.5	68.8	2.8	25.7	68.8	31.2	0.0	68.8
Q3:21-22	30.1	68.8	1.1	29.0	73.6	23.6	2.8	70.8
Q4:21-22	17.2	75.9	6.9	10.3	77.4	20.4	2.2	75.3
Q1:22-23					24.1	69.0	6.9	17.2
‘Increase’ in Physical Investment is optimistic. Footnotes @ and # given in Table 1 are applicable here.

¹ The survey results reflect the respondents’ views, which are not necessarily shared by the Reserve Bank. Results of the previous survey round were released on the Bank’s website on February 10, 2022. This round of the survey was launched on January 21, 2022 and results were compiled with data received till March 28, 2022.

² Net Response (NR) is the difference between the percentage of respondents reporting optimism and those reporting pessimism. It ranges between -100 to 100. Positive value indicates expansion/optimism and negative value indicates contraction/pessimism. In other words, NR = (I – D); where, I is the percentage response of ‘Increase/optimism’, D is the percentage response of ‘Decrease/pessimism’ and E is the percentage response as ‘no change/ equal’ (i.e., I+D+E=100). For example, increase in turnover is optimism whereas decrease in cost of inputs is optimism.