CPI Inflation to ease in coming months: Flash Purchase Managers’ index launched jointly by HSBC and S&P

Consumer price inflation is set to rise moderately in the coming months, the flash Purchase Managers’ index launched jointly by HSBC and Standard and Poors on Wednesday.

“ The flash PMI indicates that service providers have not passed on the input price increases to final consumers” said Pranjul Bhandari, chief economist, India and Indonesia. “And while manufacturers have, on the whole composite output prices are rising at a lower clip than last month”

From a policy perspective, PMI data, a proprietary data base of Standard and Poor’s can also be useful in tracking underlying price pressures and monetary policy in India. The data compiled indicates that the Composite Input Prices Index is seen to have a strong relationship with annual percent changes in the consumer prices index for India as well as changes in the benchmark REPO rate.


The inaugural Flash India PMI showed that both the manufacturing and services sector grew at a faster clip in January. Of the two, business services grew at a faster clip, in fact the fastest in four months

S&P Global conducts monthly surveys in the manufacturing, services, construction and retail sectors and the surveys are based on fact, not opinion, and are the first indicators of economic conditions published each month.

They provide an advance indication of the Final Manufacturing, Services and Composite PMI data, and are released approximately one week prior to the release of the Final PMI indices. The Flash PMI is typically based on approximately 75%-85% of total PMI survey responses that are received each month.

The composite data for the PMI can be used to determine latest economic trends in advance of the release of official data. In this instance, the composite Output Index provides an early signal of real GDP.

Average differences and average absolute differences between Flash and Final PMI data are typically small, said Standard and Poors.