Business confidence has caved in with the second Covid wave prompting industry chamber Ficci to lobby hard for a fresh stimulus package.

Ficci’s Business Confidence Survey overall has nosedived and stood at 51.5 in the current round after reporting a decadal high value of 74.2 in the previous survey. There was a “sharp deterioration” in the optimism level of corporate India vis-a-vis the previous survey, it said.

“Worsening current conditions as well as muted expectations about the near-term prospects on the back of a sweeping second wave of coronavirus infections, pulled down the overall index value by over 20 points,” it said.

The chamber said companies unanimously felt “the need for another fiscal package, focusing majorly on addressing the demand side. Demand boosting measures such as direct income support to the rural as well as the urban poor, income tax reductions for the middle class and temporary reductions in indirect taxes must be urgently considered”.

The respondents also highlighted the need for continuation of liquidity support and credit enhancement measures to MSMEs as announced in the previous year.