23 May 2007
Hyderabad, IANS: The outlook for the Indian economy remains buoyant but the risks of rising interest rates and appreciating rupee remain, says Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), the world's leading source of global business information, knowledge and insight.
'Though business confidence is difficult to predict over the long term, we remain confident over the long term growth prospects of the Indian economy. During the next quarter, business confidence could be determined by movements in inflation and the monetary policy stance of the RBI (Reserve Bank of India),' said Kaushal Sampath, CEO, D&B India Private Limited.
'The Indian economy continues to look optimistic; latest growth estimates reveal that GDP grew by 8.6 percent during the third quarter of financial year 2007,' he said.
The industrial sector has also continued to display a healthy performance. The index of industrial production (IIP) grew by 12.9 percent in March 2007, taking the cumulative IIP growth for the fiscal year to a 10-year high of 11.3 percent.
The capital and intermediate goods sectors have also registered impressive growth rates of 13.2 percent and 13.3 percent respectively in 2007 - an indication of continued robustness. Industrial production is therefore likely to continue with its current momentum.
During the first quarter of the current fiscal (April-June 2007), the composite Business Optimism Index (BOI) stood at 201.2 points, recording an increase of 3.4 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis. On a year-on-year basis, the BOI recorded an increase of 13.3 percent.
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