New Delhi, Mar 6 (KNN) India has expanded at a faster rate than China in February while other emerging market economies witnessed moderate economic growth, a HSBC survey said today.



The HSBC Emerging Markets Index (EMI), a monthly indicator derived from the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) surveys, fell from 53.8 in January to 52.3 in February. This is the lowest figure since August 2012 and indicated a moderation in economic growth in global emerging markets.

During February, the HSBC composite index for India, which maps both manufacturing and services sectors, stood at 54.8, whereas for China it was 51.4.

An index measure of above 50 indicates expansion. Among the largest economies covered, growth rates slowed in China, India and Brazil in February, but India, the report said expanded more than China.
"Emerging Market economies continued to expand in February but the pace of growth lost steam. The slowdown appears to be broad-based across manufacturing and services, with BRIC activity moderating after a promising start to the New Year," HSBC Chief Economist, Central and Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, Murat Ulgen said.

All four BRIC economies - Brazil, Russia, India and China registered slower increases in new business since January. Besides, according to HSBC, employment also rose at the weakest rate in three months. 

On the other hand, the February EMI report suggests that there has been a softening in new orders across the BRIC economies and particularly for new export orders in the manufacturing industry. (KNN)