All the sub-indices of PMI Manufacturing recorded values above the neutral 50.0 threshold signalling an overall expansion in October compared to September. The improvement observed in manufacturing activities in October was mainly driven by the improvement in new orders and production, especially in manufacturing of food and beverages activities, led by the positive outlook with the seasonal demand. Even though the employment in the manufacturing of food and beverages activities has improved with seasonal trend, overall employment slowed down. This was mainly evident in manufacturing of textiles, wearing apparels, leather and related activities due to difficulties to find employees in the market.

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank, at its meeting held on 13 November 2018, decided to reduce the Statutory Reserve Ratio (SRR) applicable on all rupee deposit liabilities of commercial banks by 1.50 percentage points to 6.00 per cent. In order to neutralise the impact of this reduction and maintain its neutral monetary policy stance, the Monetary Board decided to increase the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) of the Central Bank by 75 basis points to 8.00 per cent and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank by 50 basis points to 9.00 per cent. 

The Board arrived at this decision following a careful analysis of current and expected developments in the domestic and global economy and the domestic financial market, with the broad aim of stabilising inflation at mid single digit levels in the medium term to enable the economy to reach its potential.