Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey for Q4:2023-24

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Published on April 05, 2024

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Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey for Q4:2023-24

Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of 40th round of its quarterly Services and Infrastructure Outlook Survey (SIOS) conducted during Q4:2023-24. This forward-looking survey¹ captures qualitative assessment and expectations of Indian companies engaged in the services and infrastructure sectors on a set of business parameters relating to demand conditions, price situation and other business conditions. In the latest round of the survey, 707 companies provided their assessment for Q4:2023-24 and expectations for Q1:2024-25 as well as outlook on key parameters for the subsequent two quarters.

Highlights:

A. Services Sector

Assessment for Q4:2023-24

Services sector firms assessed further improvement in overall business situation, job landscape and their turnover during Q4:2023-24 (Chart 1 and Table A).
Enterprises gauged higher cost pressures stemming from input costs; pressures from salary outgo and cost of finance, however, moderated during the quarter.
Firms’ sentiments on their selling prices and profit margins improved in Q4:2023-24.

Expectations for Q1:2024-25

Respondents were more upbeat on overall business situation and their turnover, as well as both full-time and part-time employment conditions during April-June 2024 (Chart 1 and Table A).
Service sector enterprises remain highly positive on availability of finance and expect it to improve further in the ensuing quarter.
Higher cost pressures are expected in Q1:2024-25; respondents anticipated higher rise in selling prices and profit margins.

Expectations for Q2:2024-25 and Q3:2024-25

Demand for services is likely to grow sequentially till Q3:2024-25 with further improvement in employment outlook (Table C).
Services sector firms expect higher input cost pressures and more rise in selling prices.

Chart 1: Turnover of Services Companies - Net Response

B. Infrastructure Sector

Assessment for Q4:2023-24

Infrastructure firms assessed positive demand parameters during Q4:2023-24 with somewhat lower sanguinity vis-à-vis the previous quarter (Chart 2 and Table B).
Respondents reported positive sentiments on both full-time and part-time employment.
Infrastructure companies assessed easing of pressures from salary outgo and finance cost while pressures stemming from input costs increased.
Enterprises gauged lower growth in selling prices and profit margins.

Expectations for Q1:2024-25

Respondents were optimistic on overall business situation, turnover and employment conditions in Q1:2024-25 though the expectations were somewhat tempered when compared to the previous survey round (Table B).
Firms remain positive on easy availability of finance.
Pressures from cost of funds and inputs are likely to persist during Q1:2024-25.
Infrastructure firms expressed lower optimism for growth in selling prices and profit margins as compared to the previous quarter.

Expectations for Q2:2024-25 and Q3:2024-25

Respondents remain highly optimistic on demand and employment conditions till Q3:2024-25 (Table D).
A majority of firms anticipated further rise in input costs and selling prices till end-2024.

Chart 2: Turnover of Infrastructure Companies - Net Response

Summary of Net Responses² on Survey Parameters

Table A: Services Sector
(per cent)
Parameters	Assessment period		Expectations period
Parameters	Q3:2023-24	Q4:2023-24	Q4:2023-24	Q1:2024-25
Overall Business Situation	35.6	37.5	54.8	65.3
Turnover	32.3	37.6	53.4	64.6
Full-time Employees	21.4	24.8	28.8	46.3
Part-time Employees	13.2	22.7	23.1	48.3
Availability of Finance	24.9	27.8	37.4	55.3
Cost of Finance	-32.3	-31.5	-34.4	-45.5
Salary & Wages	-38.4	-30.2	-36.8	-46.7
Cost of Inputs	-37.9	-42.8	-45.7	-56.7
Selling Price	15.1	22.4	30.7	50.8
Profit Margin	9.7	16.3	27.5	46.4
Inventories	22.2	25.4	28.3	47.8
Technical/Service Capacity	21.0	24.3	34.1	54.7
Physical Investment	20.1	22.6	32.2	53.2

Table B: Infrastructure Sector
(per cent)
Parameters	Assessment period		Expectations period
Parameters	Q3:2023-24	Q4:2023-24	Q4:2023-24	Q1:2024-25
Overall Business Situation	34.2	32.5	68.1	66.1
Turnover	36.1	27.5	73.9	61.5
Full-time Employees	22.2	20.0	60.7	46.6
Part-time Employees	29.2	24.7	68.3	53.5
Availability of Finance	30.8	28.0	61.3	57.8
Cost of Finance	-31.8	-31.5	-60.7	-59.4
Salary & Wages	-40.7	-26.1	-59.0	-55.2
Cost of Inputs	-47.9	-49.1	-55.7	-63.4
Selling Price	28.0	18.9	60.0	55.1
Profit Margin	25.0	8.4	48.7	47.9
Inventories	36.9	30.1	74.3	55.0
Technical/Service Capacity	35.5	29.9	75.0	64.9
Physical Investment	31.6	26.0	75.3	64.0

Expectations of Select Parameters for extended period – Net response (in per cent)


Table C: Services Sector
Parameter	Round 39	Round 40
Parameter	Q4:2023-24	Q1:2024-25	Q2:2024-25	Q3:2024-25
Overall Business Situation	54.8	65.3	72.3	72.4
Turnover	53.4	64.6	73.9	74.3
Full-time Employees	28.8	46.3	54.1	53.8
Part-time Employees	23.1	48.3	53.1	52.6
Cost of Inputs	-45.7	-56.7	-60.5	-61.0
Selling Price	30.7	50.8	53.6	53.8

Table D: Infrastructure Sector
Parameter	Round 39	Round 40
Parameter	Q4:2023-24	Q1:2024-25	Q2:2024-25	Q3:2024-25
Overall Business Situation	68.1	66.1	67.5	67.5
Turnover	73.9	61.5	69.5	68.1
Full-time Employees	60.7	46.6	45.2	47.4
Part-time Employees	68.3	53.5	55.8	60.7
Cost of Inputs	-55.7	-63.4	-54.8	-55.9
Selling Price	60.0	55.1	49.5	54.5

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
Q4:22-23	59.8	30.0	10.3	49.5	55.0	40.0	5.0	50.1
Q1:23-24	55.0	32.0	13.0	42.0	64.2	27.4	8.4	55.8
Q2:23-24	48.4	37.7	14.0	34.4	62.3	31.3	6.4	56.0
Q3:23-24	47.6	40.4	12.0	35.6	51.0	41.2	7.8	43.1
Q4:23-24	48.9	39.8	11.4	37.5	59.4	36.0	4.6	54.8
Q1:24-25					68.5	28.4	3.1	65.3
‘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
Q4:22-23	57.4	34.0	8.5	48.9	51.5	42.5	6.0	45.5
Q1:23-24	59.4	30.2	10.4	49.0	60.0	33.1	6.9	53.1
Q2:23-24	43.8	41.3	14.9	28.9	59.3	36.3	4.4	54.9
Q3:23-24	48.2	35.9	15.9	32.3	40.3	49.9	9.8	30.5
Q4:23-24	51.6	34.3	14.0	37.6	59.8	33.8	6.4	53.4
Q1:24-25					70.5	23.6	5.9	64.6
‘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
Q4:22-23	45.1	48.0	7.0	38.1	47.1	48.0	4.8	42.3
Q1:23-24	40.1	47.8	12.1	27.9	47.8	45.9	6.3	41.6
Q2:23-24	34.3	48.7	17.0	17.3	44.7	52.6	2.7	42.0
Q3:23-24	29.9	61.6	8.5	21.4	26.4	63.7	9.9	16.5
Q4:23-24	33.9	57.1	9.0	24.8	32.4	64.0	3.6	28.8
Q1:24-25					48.4	49.5	2.1	46.3
‘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
Q4:22-23	36.2	58.5	5.3	30.9	41.8	53.1	5.1	36.7
Q1:23-24	30.9	59.1	9.9	21.0	35.3	60.6	4.2	31.1
Q2:23-24	24.4	57.5	18.1	6.2	36.7	57.9	5.3	31.4
Q3:23-24	21.5	70.3	8.2	13.2	31.0	52.3	16.7	14.4
Q4:23-24	30.2	62.4	7.5	22.7	28.8	65.4	5.8	23.1
Q1:24-25					50.8	46.7	2.5	48.3
‘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
Q4:22-23	34.9	61.6	3.6	31.3	42.3	52.4	5.4	36.9
Q1:23-24	29.3	61.2	9.5	19.7	36.0	61.4	2.6	33.4
Q2:23-24	30.6	56.8	12.6	18.0	39.5	57.0	3.5	36.0
Q3:23-24	32.3	60.3	7.4	24.9	31.5	61.1	7.3	24.2
Q4:23-24	36.3	55.3	8.4	27.8	40.4	56.7	2.9	37.4
Q1:24-25					56.4	42.5	1.1	55.3
‘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
Q4:22-23	36.7	60.1	3.2	-33.5	41.6	53.2	5.2	-36.5
Q1:23-24	42.1	49.6	8.3	-33.7	35.4	62.0	2.6	-32.8
Q2:23-24	39.0	52.1	8.9	-30.1	38.1	57.6	4.3	-33.7
Q3:23-24	36.5	59.3	4.2	-32.3	32.8	61.0	6.2	-26.6
Q4:23-24	38.0	55.6	6.5	-31.5	38.1	58.2	3.7	-34.4
Q1:24-25					51.0	43.5	5.5	-45.5
‘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
Q4:22-23	47.6	48.4	3.9	-43.7	43.3	52.1	4.6	-38.7
Q1:23-24	48.8	45.6	5.6	-43.2	45.9	46.7	7.5	-38.4
Q2:23-24	44.5	50.3	5.3	-39.2	46.4	52.0	1.6	-44.8
Q3:23-24	42.4	53.5	4.0	-38.4	33.6	62.3	4.1	-29.5
Q4:23-24	34.8	60.7	4.5	-30.2	38.6	59.6	1.8	-36.8
Q1:24-25					46.7	53.3	0.0	-46.7
‘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
Q4:22-23	41.9	53.4	4.7	-37.2	50.1	44.5	5.3	-44.8
Q1:23-24	45.2	45.4	9.5	-35.7	43.8	53.6	2.7	-41.1
Q2:23-24	39.1	49.9	11.0	-28.1	47.0	46.8	6.1	-40.9
Q3:23-24	44.6	48.6	6.8	-37.9	32.1	57.9	9.9	-22.2
Q4:23-24	46.7	49.3	4.0	-42.8	47.4	50.9	1.7	-45.7
Q1:24-25					57.1	42.5	0.4	-56.7
‘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
Q4:22-23	34.4	62.2	3.5	30.9	38.9	55.6	5.5	33.4
Q1:23-24	28.8	59.8	11.4	17.4	35.7	60.0	4.3	31.3
Q2:23-24	21.9	62.7	15.4	6.5	39.5	53.7	6.8	32.7
Q3:23-24	24.3	66.6	9.2	15.1	26.4	61.5	12.1	14.2
Q4:23-24	29.9	62.6	7.5	22.4	35.3	60.0	4.7	30.7
Q1:24-25					52.4	46.0	1.6	50.8
‘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
Q4:22-23	43.6	46.7	9.7	33.9	44.8	49.7	5.4	39.4
Q1:23-24	26.3	52.3	21.4	4.9	48.4	42.3	9.3	39.1
Q2:23-24	26.3	51.8	22.0	4.3	50.3	40.6	9.1	41.2
Q3:23-24	27.1	55.5	17.4	9.7	27.3	59.2	13.5	13.8
Q4:23-24	29.6	57.0	13.3	16.3	36.1	55.2	8.6	27.5
Q1:24-25					50.6	45.1	4.2	46.4
‘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
Q4:22-23	38.1	58.1	3.8	34.2	48.8	46.0	5.2	43.5
Q1:23-24	30.4	58.8	10.8	19.6	38.6	57.7	3.7	34.8
Q2:23-24	30.2	56.2	13.6	16.5	40.3	54.3	5.4	34.8
Q3:23-24	29.6	62.9	7.5	22.2	34.5	53.9	11.6	22.9
Q4:23-24	32.2	60.9	6.9	25.4	34.2	60.0	5.8	28.3
Q1:24-25					50.9	45.9	3.2	47.8
‘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
Q4:22-23	36.4	60.9	2.7	33.7	41.5	53.9	4.6	37.0
Q1:23-24	30.0	65.1	4.9	25.1	36.4	61.1	2.5	34.0
Q2:23-24	28.1	69.2	2.7	25.3	51.2	47.5	1.3	49.8
Q3:23-24	22.6	75.8	1.6	21.0	41.9	56.3	1.9	40.0
Q4:23-24	29.1	66.2	4.8	24.3	34.1	65.9	0.0	34.1
Q1:24-25					54.7	45.3	0.0	54.7
‘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
Q4:22-23	32.2	65.5	2.3	30.0	41.4	53.9	4.7	36.7
Q1:23-24	26.9	66.8	6.3	20.7	33.0	64.3	2.7	30.3
Q2:23-24	30.7	66.1	3.1	27.6	43.4	54.8	1.8	41.5
Q3:23-24	21.7	76.6	1.6	20.1	23.3	75.8	0.9	22.3
Q4:23-24	28.0	66.7	5.3	22.6	32.2	67.8	0.0	32.2
Q1:24-25					53.8	45.7	0.5	53.2
‘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
Q4:22-23	60.9	28.7	10.4	50.4	56.8	37.2	6.0	50.9
Q1:23-24	62.6	23.1	14.3	48.4	60.5	34.2	5.3	55.3
Q2:23-24	44.2	41.3	14.4	29.8	62.6	30.8	6.6	56.0
Q3:23-24	44.2	45.8	10.0	34.2	67.3	29.8	2.9	64.4
Q4:23-24	45.0	42.5	12.5	32.5	73.1	21.8	5.0	68.1
Q1:24-25					70.3	25.4	4.2	66.1
‘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
Q4:22-23	60.9	27.0	12.2	48.7	55.8	37.2	7.0	48.8
Q1:23-24	64.8	19.8	15.4	49.5	61.4	32.5	6.1	55.3
Q2:23-24	46.2	39.4	14.4	31.7	61.1	33.3	5.6	55.6
Q3:23-24	47.9	40.3	11.8	36.1	53.8	42.3	3.8	50.0
Q4:23-24	42.5	42.5	15.0	27.5	75.6	22.7	1.7	73.9
Q1:24-25					68.4	24.8	6.8	61.5
‘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
Q4:22-23	47.0	47.8	5.2	41.7	52.4	40.7	6.9	45.5
Q1:23-24	46.7	40.0	13.3	33.3	50.9	44.7	4.4	46.5
Q2:23-24	28.8	58.7	12.5	16.3	48.9	48.9	2.2	46.7
Q3:23-24	32.5	57.3	10.3	22.2	42.3	54.8	2.9	39.4
Q4:23-24	27.5	65.0	7.5	20.0	63.2	34.2	2.6	60.7
Q1:24-25					47.5	51.7	0.8	46.6
‘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
Q4:22-23	46.4	50.0	3.6	42.9	52.1	41.7	6.2	45.9
Q1:23-24	48.1	40.7	11.1	37.0	43.8	55.4	0.9	42.9
Q2:23-24	37.9	55.2	6.9	31.0	50.9	45.3	3.8	47.2
Q3:23-24	35.8	57.5	6.6	29.2	60.3	34.5	5.2	55.2
Q4:23-24	29.2	66.3	4.5	24.7	68.3	31.7	0.0	68.3
Q1:24-25					55.8	41.9	2.3	53.5
‘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
Q4:22-23	45.1	49.6	5.3	39.8	52.2	41.9	5.8	46.4
Q1:23-24	28.9	54.4	16.7	12.2	46.8	50.5	2.7	44.1
Q2:23-24	36.5	52.9	10.6	26.0	51.1	43.3	5.6	45.6
Q3:23-24	36.7	57.5	5.8	30.8	46.6	49.5	3.9	42.7
Q4:23-24	34.7	58.5	6.8	28.0	63.0	35.3	1.7	61.3
Q1:24-25					58.6	40.5	0.9	57.8
‘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
Q4:22-23	43.4	49.6	7.1	-36.3	49.7	44.5	5.8	-43.8
Q1:23-24	50.6	41.2	8.2	-42.4	43.8	53.6	2.7	-41.1
Q2:23-24	51.0	42.7	6.3	-44.8	44.0	53.6	2.4	-41.7
Q3:23-24	38.2	55.5	6.4	-31.8	54.2	45.8	0.0	-54.2
Q4:23-24	35.2	61.1	3.7	-31.5	61.7	37.4	0.9	-60.7
Q1:24-25					60.4	38.7	0.9	-59.4
‘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
Q4:22-23	47.0	49.6	3.5	-43.5	50.5	43.6	5.8	-44.7
Q1:23-24	40.7	56.0	3.3	-37.4	46.5	50.9	2.6	-43.9
Q2:23-24	42.7	50.5	6.8	-35.9	47.8	52.2	0.0	-47.8
Q3:23-24	44.9	50.8	4.2	-40.7	41.2	56.9	2.0	-39.2
Q4:23-24	27.7	70.6	1.7	-26.1	59.8	39.3	0.9	-59.0
Q1:24-25					55.2	44.8	0.0	-55.2
‘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
Q4:22-23	46.9	50.4	2.7	-44.2	55.3	37.8	6.9	-48.5
Q1:23-24	47.7	47.7	4.5	-43.2	49.6	48.7	1.8	-47.8
Q2:23-24	50.0	45.1	4.9	-45.1	51.1	44.3	4.5	-46.6
Q3:23-24	52.1	43.6	4.3	-47.9	52.0	41.0	7.0	-45.0
Q4:23-24	52.6	43.9	3.5	-49.1	59.1	37.4	3.5	-55.7
Q1:24-25					63.4	36.6	0.0	-63.4
‘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
Q4:22-23	46.8	48.6	4.5	42.3	50.3	43.1	6.6	43.8
Q1:23-24	29.3	63.4	7.3	22.0	43.5	53.7	2.8	40.7
Q2:23-24	33.7	53.3	13.0	20.7	43.4	54.2	2.4	41.0
Q3:23-24	37.0	54.0	9.0	28.0	42.4	53.3	4.3	38.0
Q4:23-24	28.9	61.1	10.0	18.9	62.0	36.0	2.0	60.0
Q1:24-25					60.7	33.7	5.6	55.1
‘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
Q4:22-23	46.0	44.2	9.7	36.3	52.8	39.6	7.6	45.1
Q1:23-24	36.7	38.9	24.4	12.2	47.3	45.5	7.1	40.2
Q2:23-24	24.5	58.8	16.7	7.8	46.1	48.3	5.6	40.4
Q3:23-24	35.0	55.0	10.0	25.0	37.3	56.9	5.9	31.4
Q4:23-24	26.1	56.3	17.6	8.4	56.3	36.1	7.6	48.7
Q1:24-25					54.7	38.5	6.8	47.9
‘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
Q4:22-23	48.7	46.0	5.3	43.4	53.6	39.2	7.2	46.4
Q1:23-24	28.3	58.3	13.3	15.0	48.2	50.0	1.8	46.4
Q2:23-24	42.1	52.6	5.3	36.8	36.7	60.0	3.3	33.3
Q3:23-24	41.7	53.4	4.9	36.9	60.5	36.8	2.6	57.9
Q4:23-24	34.0	62.1	3.9	30.1	75.2	23.8	1.0	74.3
Q1:24-25					58.0	39.0	3.0	55.0
‘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
Q4:22-23	45.9	50.5	3.7	42.2	50.5	43.5	6.0	44.6
Q1:23-24	35.7	59.5	4.8	31.0	45.0	53.2	1.8	43.1
Q2:23-24	38.3	59.6	2.1	36.2	51.2	48.8	0.0	51.2
Q3:23-24	39.8	55.9	4.3	35.5	66.7	33.3	0.0	66.7
Q4:23-24	32.5	64.9	2.6	29.9	75.0	25.0	0.0	75.0
Q1:24-25					66.2	32.4	1.4	64.9
‘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
Q4:22-23	45.9	50.5	3.7	42.2	49.8	43.6	6.6	43.2
Q1:23-24	37.1	52.9	10.0	27.1	43.9	52.3	3.7	40.2
Q2:23-24	38.0	58.2	3.8	34.2	36.8	60.3	2.9	33.8
Q3:23-24	35.8	60.0	4.2	31.6	46.8	53.2	0.0	46.8
Q4:23-24	28.6	68.8	2.6	26.0	75.3	24.7	0.0	75.3
Q1:24-25					64.0	36.0	0.0	64.0
‘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 08, 2024.

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.