Biz optimism falls 7% in January-March: D&B

Business optimism for the January-March 2019 quarter witnessed a decline of over 7 per cent on a quarterly basis, due to uncertainties regarding the outcome of general elections and continuation of reform agenda, according to a report.

The Dun & Bradstreet Composite Business Optimism Index stood at 73.8 during January-March 2019, a fall of 7.2 per cent as compared to October-December 2018.

Moreover, five of the six parameters -- optimism for net profit, new orders, volume of sales, inventory and selling price -- also registered a decrease compared to fourth quarter of 2018, the report noted. The sixth parameter, workforce employed, saw a rise of 7 percentage points.

"The ruling party in the Centre lost three states in the state elections, possibly leading to questions amongst businesses, whether we would have a new government in Centre, whether we would have a continued reform agenda.

Going ahead, the announcements in the Union Budget 2019-20 and trepidations over the outcome of ..