Firms reporting ‘somewhat less than normal’ sales sharply increase to 33%: IIM-A report

By A Representative

The Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad's (IIM-A's) Business Inflation Expectations Survey (BIES),which seeks to provide ways to examine the amount of slack in the economy by polling a panel of business leaders, has said that the cost perceptions data "clearly indicates moderation in cost pressures."

"The percentage of firms perceiving over 10% cost increase y-o-y has further declined. Over 19% of the firms in October 2022 round of the survey perceive that costs have increased very significantly (over 10%) – down from 21% recorded in September 2022", the survey noted.

It added, "With moderation in cost pressures, profit margins expectations have improved sharply. Over 26% of the participating firms in October 2022 perceive profit margins are ‘somewhat or much greater than normal’ – significantly up from 5% reported in September 2022."
Based on the responses of over 1,000 companies, the report, however, regrets, "Firms’ sales expectations are seen to have subdued. Percentage of firms reporting ‘somewhat less than normal’ sales has sharply increased to 33% in October 2022, from 24% reported in September 2022. Around 25% of the firms in October 2022 report that sales are ‘about normal’, down from 27% reported in September 2022."

Claiming to be a unique survey in that it goes straight to businesses -- the price setters -- rather than to consumers or households, to understand their expectations of the price level changes, and conducted every month at the Misra Centre for Financial Markets and Economy, IIM-A, the report said, "One year ahead business inflation expectations have remained unchanged around 4.76% during September-October 2022.
"The uncertainty of business inflation expectations in October 2022, as captured by the square root of the average variance of the individual probability distribution of unit cost increase, has further increased to 2.16%", it added.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Search This Blog