Indian employers are likely to raise staff pay by 10.4% next year, almost on par with the 10.6% so far in 2022, Aon PLC said on Monday.

The prospects of a double-digit salary increase comes as the south Asian country grapples with soaring inflation amid fears of a global economic slowdown. India's inflation rose to 7% in August and has stayed above the central bank's tolerance level for eight straight months to August. "This (salary) increase is a reflection of the confidence that corporate India has on its strong business performance," Roopank Chaudhary, partner, human capital solutions at Aon in India, said in a statement, based on a survey.

The survey analysed data from 1,300 companies across more than 40 industries.

Business leaders, however, need to balance the impact of rising costs and salary pressures with a relatively high rate of attrition and the ongoing demand for critical talent, Chaudhary said.

Staff exits in the first six months of this year remained high at 20.3%, but marginally lower than the 21% in 2021, the survey showed.

E-commerce leads sectors with the highest projected salary increase of 12.8%, followed by start-ups at 12.7%, hi-tech/information technology and IT-enabled services at 11.3% and financial institutions at 10.7%. (Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)