RBI launches next round of survey of manufacturing companies

The Reserve Bank on Monday said it has launched the next round of its order books, inventories and capacity utilisation survey (OBICUS) of manufacturing companies, results of which provide valuable inputs for monetary policy formulation.

The 58th round of the OBICUS is for April – June 2022 period.

Selected manufacturing companies will be approached by the RBI for the survey, the central bank said.

The information collected in the survey includes quantitative data on new orders received during the reference quarter, backlog of orders at the beginning of the quarter, pending orders at the end of the quarter, and total inventories with a breakup between finished goods, among others.

The level of capacity utilisation is estimated from these responses.

”The survey provides valuable input for monetary policy formulation,” the RBI said.

The central bank has been conducting the OBICUS of the manufacturing sector on a quarterly basis since 2008.

The RBI has also launched the 2021-22 round of its Survey on International Trade in Banking Services (ITBS).

The survey, conducted annually since 2006-07, provides information on financial services rendered by branches/ subsidiaries/joint ventures of Indian banks operating abroad and branches/subsidiaries of foreign banks operating in India.