Business confidence fell in July-September quarter: D&B report

NEW DELHI: Optimism level of India's CFOs about the country's business environment in July-September declined for the fourth consecutive quarter amid concerns over passage of key Bills as well as domestic and global headwinds, says a D&B report.

The Composite CFO Optimism Index on macroeconomic conditions based on a survey of the Chief Financial Officers from both industrial and services sectors dropped around 14 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

"The fall in the optimism level among CFOs for domestic and global macro-economic scenarios is a reflection of the rise in the perception of risks to global and domestic growth prospects," Dun & Bradstreet India Director - Risk Management Solution Arvind Raghav said.

Domestically, factors that affected the optimism level include non-revival in growth of new projects, along with low capacity utilisation in certain other sectors.

Moreover, "the hitches in the passage of key Bills have dampened the optimism level", the analytics firm added.

Moreover, several global factors also had a negative impact on the overall optimism level.

"The commodity price slump, investment slowdown in China, impending tough conditionality of the new bailout agreement on Greece, currency volatility led by the divergence in the monetary policy globally and the continued slowdown in the US economy have added to the elevated concerns," Raghav added.

The survey reveals how optimistic the CFOs are with respect to the overall financial health of their companies, the business risk environment and the macroeconomic scenario in the country.