Lowest growth in India manufacturing in last 15 months

Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (compiled by IHS Markit) touched 51.4 in August from July’s 52.5, the weakest since May 2018. The survey attributed this to the fact that demand and output grew at its weakest pace in a year and cost pressures increased. “August saw an undesirable combination of slowing economic growth and greater cost inflationary pressures in the Indian manufacturing industry,” stated Pollyanna De Lima, principal economist at IHS Markit. The findings also suggest that while the costs of inputs rose, those of final outputs rose slower than in July. He opined that “until manufacturers are willing to loosen the purse strings, it’s difficult to foresee a meaningful rebound in production growth on the horizon.”

What however, is the silver lining here is that it was above the 50-mark, separating growth from contraction for more than two years.