THE MERCURY DESCENDS!

The broader economic landscape emerges as high taxes cause less anxiety

With a new president in office and another election approaching, the corporate community is once again weighing the scale of pressing business concerns, particularly recurring concerns about high taxes – albeit at a lower level of anxiety than in the last two months.

Thirty-nine percent of executives identified high taxes as their primary concern, which reflects a 13 point decrease from 52 percent in September.

In the latest LMD-PEPPERCUBE Business Confidence Index (BCI) survey, high utility costs climbed to second place (up from outside the top five in September) with less than a quarter (24%) of respondents citing it as a major concern.

According to the exclusive survey, brain drain (previously in second place) ranked No. 3 in October; it is now tied with political instability, both at 21 percent.

The lack of raw materials, related price increases and import restrictions all ranked jointly in fourth place, each cited by a fifth of the sample population.

On a national scale, a large majority of 78 percent of poll participants mentioned the economy as their primary concern, although this marked a substantial 14 percentage point fall from September.

Concerns about the cost of living also diminished somewhat from 64 percent in September to 59 percent a month later while unease among businesspeople regarding the political culture fell by a noteworthy 28 percentage points to 24 percent.

And for the first time, adverse effects on daily wage earners entered the five most pressing national concerns, ranking fourth at 14 percent. Additionally, issues related to the loss of the Sri Lankan identity (another new entrant), and bribery and corruption, took joint fifth spot – each cited by 13 percent of respondents.

– LMD