The reading of the CII - IBA Financial Conditions Index for Q1 FY 2016-17 at 61.1 was significantly above the 50 mark implying a strong majority of the respondent banks and financial institutions reporting improvement or no change in the overall financial conditions as against deterioration vis-à-vis the previous quarter. A total of 41 major banks and financial institutions with combined total assets (as of March 2016) of more than Rs 72 lakh crore participated in the survey.

Releasing the Index for the first quarter of 2016-17, Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII said "The directional change in the performance of the Financial Conditions Index augurs well for the Indian financial sector as well as for the real sectors of the economy. We are certain that traversing the external headwinds, the Government and the RBI would continue to focus on the twin objectives of maintaining financial stability and enhancing economic growth".

Commenting on the performance of the Index, Ashwani Kumar, Chairman, IBA and Chairman & Managing Director, Dena Bank said "Sustainable improvement in the financial conditions is a key imperative for strengthening the health of the Indian financial sector. With the gradual improvement in the overall macro-economic situation, financial conditions index is quite likely to witness upturn in coming quarters".

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