New Delhi: India has slipped to the fourth position among 36 economies in terms of business optimism during the June quarter due to “slow progress on easing regulatory shackles and decision-making”, says a report. The country, which topped the business optimism ranking in the 2014 December quarter, has further slipped from its second position secured in the first three months of this year, according to global consultancy Grant Thornton.
The latest observation comes less than two weeks after global rating agencies Fitch and Moody’s expressed concerns about the government’s pace of reforms. Grant Thornton on Thursday said business optimism in India has slipped to fourth position in 2015 second quarter even though the country has enacted some encouraging reforms recently. The conclusions are based on a quarterly global survey titled ‘Grant Thornton International Business Report’ that covered nearly 2,600 business leaders.
India’s score slipped to 85 in the June quarter from 89 recorded in the previous three months. Recently, Fitch had said India’s business environment is relatively weak compared with peers and would take time to turn around. Moody’s had warned of growing concerns about risk of policy stagnation in India and “some disappointment” has emerged over the pace of reforms under Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Meanwhile, Germany has topped the list of 36 economies in terms of business optimism and is followed by Ireland and New Zealand at the second and third positions, respectively. Other nations in the top ten are Netherlands (5), Nigeria (6), the United Kingdom (7), Philippines (8), Spain (9) and Indonesia (10). Interestingly, the United States (12th position), China (14) and Singapore (21) are ranked below India.
With regard to India’s economy, 83 per cent of Indian businesses expect an increase in revenues as per the survey conducted in May this year.“The optimism has suffered a decline compared to last two quarters (84 per cent in Q1 2015 and 94 per cent in Q4 2014),” the report said.
