Business
New orders lift India services activity to highest in 13 years on intl demand
India’s services activity in July accelerated at the quickest pace in over 13 years due to an improvement in international demand and new business orders.
The S&P Global India services purchasing managers’ index rose to 62.3 last month, the strongest since June 2010, from 58.5 in June, according to a statement on Thursday. A reading above 50 signals an expansion in activity, while a number below denotes a contraction.
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The strength in services sector, which contributes to more than 50 percent of gross domestic product, is cushioning the impact of elevated interest rates. A sharp jump in information technology and business consulting work is also bolstering activity.
“The broad increases in sales across the domestic and interna-tional markets are particularly welcoming news, especially in light of the challenging global economic scenario,” Pollyanna De Lima of S&P Global Market Intelligence said in a statement.
“Firms noted a widespread upturn in services exports to several nations including Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the United Arab Emirates,” she added.
Input costs facing Indian service providers saw a further increase, the survey showed. Services companies sought to protect margins from increasing costs by lifting selling prices last month but even then, output prices increased at the slowest pace in three months, according to the survey.
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