Mumbai: The Reserve Bank has started the latest cycle of its quarterly survey on order books, inventories, and capacity utilization of manufacturing firms, which serves as a crucial component for shaping monetary policy.
Announcing the commencement of the 65th round of the survey, covering the period from January to March 2024 (Q4: 2023-24), the central bank highlighted its ongoing practice of conducting the Order Books, Inventories, and Capacity Utilization Survey (OBICUS) since 2008.
The survey collects detailed data, including the volume of new orders received, the backlog of orders at the beginning of the quarter, and pending orders at quarter-end.
Further, it gathers information on total inventories categorized into finished goods (FG), work-in-progress (WiP), and raw materials (RM) inventories at quarter-end, along with item-wise production figures in terms of quantity and value. Based on these responses, the survey estimates the level of capacity utilization (CU).
"The survey provides valuable input for monetary policy formulation," the Reserve Bank said.
While the survey findings are disseminated by the RBI, the individual company-level data remains confidential and is never disclosed.
The forthcoming bi-monthly monetary policy meeting is scheduled to take place from June 5 to 7, 2024.
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