Economic activity in India recorded a broad-based improvement in December compared to November, showing a return of demand, according to a report by rating agency ICRA which recently said most of the indicators have displayed a year-on-year (YoY) expansion in December last year, which signals a ‘tentative return to pre-COVID normalcy’.
"Economic activity rebounded solidly in December 2020 relative to the previous month, reflecting a pick-up in demand after the temporary post-festive slack and year-end discounts," the agency's principal economist Aditi Nayar said.Economic activity in India recorded a broad-based improvement in December last year compared to November, showing a return of demand, according to a report by rating agency ICRA which recently said most of the indicators have displayed a year-on-year (YoY) expansion in December last year, which signals a 'tentative return to pre-COVID normalcy'.#
The waning of the unfavourable base effect related to fewer working days in November 2020 contributed to the improvement in December 2020, she said, adding a pick-up in the generation of goods and services tax (GST) e-way bills, and the considerable expansion in rail freight traffic, offer encouraging signals of the pace of revival in economic activity.
As many as 12 of the 15 high-frequency indicators tracked by the agency recorded an improved year-on-year performance in December 2020, relative to November 2020, including electricity generation, the output of passenger vehicles, motorcycles, vehicle registrations, and fuel consumption, it said.
The YoY growth in the generation of GST e-way bills nearly doubled to a robust 15.9 per cent in December 2020 from 8.1 per cent in the previous month, with a distinct pick-up in the second half of the former, it pointed out, adding the robust performance of e-way bills in December 2020 suggests that the GST collections will remain healthy in January as well.
Acknowledging that the low base may be helpful on this, she said, "it does signal a tentative return to pre-COVID normalcy, in our view".
Regardless of the monthly volatility and uneven performance across the sectors, there was a widespread recovery in volumes in the third quarter of the financial year 2021 relative to the preceding second quarter, she said.
While this augurs well for the upcoming GDP print for the third quarter of financial year 2021, rising raw material and wage costs have partly offset the positive impact of rising volumes on profitability in some non-agricultural sectors, she said, adding that for now, the agency is maintaining its 1 per cent of the third quarter GDP contraction estimate.
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