‘Third wave undoes last year’s resumption gains’

Nomura cites fresh curbs as index falls

The index has slumped by 17.4 percentage points since the third wave struck at the cusp of the new year.

The fast-spreading third wave of COVID-19 has undone the gains achieved due to resumption of business since the end of the lethal second wave last year, Japanese brokerage Nomura said on Monday.

The Nomura India Business Resumption Index, which compares activity against the pre-pandemic levels of March 2020, fell to 102.9 for the week ended January 16, from 107.9 in the preceding 7-day period.

The index has slumped by 17.4 percentage points since the third wave struck at the cusp of the new year.

The third wave — which has seen daily infections climb to more than 2.5 lakh from 1.7 lakh in the week earlier — has “undone business resumption gains since the second wave”, it said.

Already, economists are estimating a dent of up to 0.4% to the GDP because of the third wave, with an increasing number of States having resorted to curbs to check the spread of infections. The Omicron variant is said to be less potent than the earlier Delta variant.

The labour participation rate fell to a nine-week low of 39.7%.