Business Activity In India In February Almost Touches Pre-Pandemic Levels With NIBRI Surging To 99.3

In a positive development for the economy, Japanese financial services behemoth Nomura's weekly tracker to measure the scale of economic normalisation in the nation has shown that the business activity has nearly normalised to the pre-COVID-19 times, reports Economic Times.

Nomura India Business Resumption Index (NIBRI) has surged to 99.3 in the week ended on 21 February, up from 98.5 from the previous week. The report takes into consideration Google mobility indices, labour force participation rate along with the demand for power and Apple's driving index.

Nomura has however stated that the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the state of Maharashtra poses a near-term risk to growth normalisation in the coming weeks. It has noted, "The State Government in Maharashtra has announced restrictions to mobility, including localised lockdowns, which along with individual risk aversion could stall NIBRI's return to pre-pandemic normal."

Nomura has also stated that despite the near-term downside risks, it maintains medium-term optimism underpinned by fiscal activism, easy financial conditions, base effects and faster global growth.

Nomura has forecasted that the Indian economy would contract by 6.7 per cent in the ongoing financial year, and then rebound to post strong 13.5 per cent growth.