The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has said that the country’s manufacturing sector growth is likely to slow down in the first quarter of 2016-17 (April to June). The factors which will contribute to this will be bleak export outlook, poor demand and high cost of borrowing.
FICCI had earlier said in a survey that there might be a revival in the fourth quarter of 2015 but till now there has been a slowdown in the first quarter of 2016-17. In trems of hiring, the outlook doesn’t look too exciting as 80 per cent of respondents say that they are unlikely to hire in the first quarter of 2016-17.
Recent official data shows India’s merchandise exports in April 2016 were valued at $20.57 billion – down 6.74 percent in dollar terms against $22.05 billion in the same period last year, signalling a decline for the 17th straight month.
The recent data shows growth of India’s manufacturing, which has the maximum weight in the overall index of industrial production (IIP), actually fell by 1.2 percent in March 2016 after rising during the month before.
By Atanu Kumar Das
