A majority of the respondents said business sentiment had shown a considerable improvement this year, with vastly improved macro economic fundamentals in the latest Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) survey on business confidence.

The Ficci report mentions tensions in Kargil, political turmoil and a split in the Congress as important events which occurred during the last three weeks of May, a period over which the survey was conducted. Among the sectors in which the current slowdown would get reversed before the year end were consumer goods, services, automobiles, steel, commodities, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, as per the survey.

"The economy is already on the turnaround track, end of the current recession is imminent," said respondents fromchemicals and commodities sectors. The vastly improved economic outlook of Indian corporates is in sharp contrast to that expressed during previous survey by Ficci in December last year. Six months back, an overwhelming 89 per cent of corporate chiefs were uncertain of a recovery trend setting in anytime before fiscal 2000-2001. Among the parameters which perceptibly improved since December last were interest rates, GDP growth rate, inflation and industrial growth rate expectations.

"There has been a considerable improvement in business sentiment this year. Interest rates have come down to 12 from 14 per cent; GDP has improved to 5.5 per cent while industrial growth rate expectations have buoyed to four per cent," the survey findings reveal.

Inflation rate has also improved from seven per cent in the last survey to 5.5 per cent now, Ficci said. About the macro economic issues, majority of survey respondents said these would hold steady or improve in the near term. They felt that the inflation rate wouldbe contained at around five per cent and the rupee exchange rate would hold at the present level with a marginal slide towards 45 per greenback, Ficci said.