India’s businessmen saw their worst month in April as the lockdown to contain the spread of covid-19 kept consumers quarantined at home.
The IHS Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), an early gauge of manufacturing activity, nosedived to 27.4 in April. That is a steep fall from the 51.8 figure in March.
A reading below 50 shows contraction. The acute contraction in PMI was expected as economic activity beyond the permitted essential goods was nil.
In fact, PMIs of other economies, such as the US, the UK, and Japan, had already given a glimpse of what lockdown has done to economic activity.