India’s business activity jumps to 99.3

Nomura India Business Resumption Index (NIBRI) suggests that the business activity has nearly normalised to the pre-COVID-19 times.  In the week ended on 21 February, NIBRI surged from 98.5 in the last week to 99.3. The weekly tracker takes into consideration Google mobility indices, labour force participation rate along with the demand for power and Apple’s driving index.

“The State Government in Maharashtra has announced restrictions to mobility, including localised lockdowns, which along with individual risk aversion could stall NIBRI’s return to pre-pandemic normal,” the survey cautioned. However, the  Japanese financial services firm maintains medium-term optimism underpinned by fiscal activism, easy financial conditions, base effects and faster global growth. It also said that the Indian economy would contract by 6.7% in the ongoing financial year, and then rebound to post strong 13.5% growth.