Knocked Out

PESSIMISM RULES AS CORPORATE LEADERS EXPECT A DULL BUDGET AND BELOW 5 PER CENT GROWTH IN 2019/20, FINDS THE LATEST BUSINESS TODAY-C FORE BUSINESS CONFIDENCE SURVEY

- MANU KAUSHIK

The fear of further decline in GDP growth and low expectations from the upcoming Budget dragged down confidence of corporate leaders in the October-December quarter. The Business Confidence Index (BCI), which has been moving within a three percentage point bracket for the last nine quarters, fell further in October-December. The BCI – on a scale of 100 – was at 48.6 compared with 49.1 in the previous quarter and 48.5 in the quarter before that. Market research agency C fore quizzed 500 CEOs and chief financial officers across 12 cities for the survey.