GST impact: Medicine sales yet to pick up

Sluggish medicine sales marked the first week of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, as per the weekly update of the market research firm AIOCD-AWACS.

"The analysis of the inventory for July first week shows the same inventory levels as of June 28. This means that primary sales continue to remain subdued and stockists have not built up the inventory again. They continue to operate with a 17-day inventory," the agency states.
 
It attributes the reasons for subdued growth to transition problems faced by the trade. These include the software issues, being handled by the stockists, the goods in transit and pending GST registrations.
 
The agency forecasts higher primary sales during the current week (second week of July) with streamlining of software issues as well as GST registrations at stockist level. "There could be a slow and gradual recovery of the pre-GST inventory levels over the coming weeks. Maintenance of inventory levels shows that whatever the stockists have sold, they have purchased an equivalent amount from companies, leading to the same level of primary and secondary sales in the last 10 days," AIOCD-AWACS explains.
 
Here is the inventory level across therapies over the past one month: