THE ECONOMY
Confidence in the economy improved marginally in June as the corporate community adopted a cautiously optimistic outlook – despite persistent concerns over rising costs, geopolitical tensions and broader economic uncertainties.
THE ECONOMY The latest LMD-PEPPERCUBE Business Confidence Index (BCI) survey, conducted in the first week of June, reflects a modest improvement in economic optimism.
MIXED SIGNALS ON THE ECONOMY
Economic confidence edges up although the future is being viewed with caution
Almost a third (32%) of polled respondents expect the economy to ‘improve’ over the next 12 months, which reflects a four percentage point increase from May. Less than half (48%) believe conditions will ‘stay the same’ – down eight points from the previous month.
Another 20 percent anticipate that the economy will ‘get worse,’ marking a four point spike from May.
SALES VOLUMES Expectations regarding sales volumes improved only marginally. Forty percent anticipate an improvement over the next 12 months, compared to 38 percent in the month prior.
However, nearly half (49%) of respondents expect their sales volumes to ‘stay the same,’ reflecting a five percentage point decline, while 11 percent of respondents surveyed believe sales volumes will ‘get worse’ – up three points from the preceding month.
Meanwhile, nearly a third (31%) report an ‘increase’ in sales volumes in the last year – a notable 15 percentage point fall from the preceding month.
And slightly over four in 10 (43%) say their sales volumes ‘stayed the same’ – unchanged from May – while over a quarter (26%) report an increase (up by 15 points from 11% in the preceding month).
Looking ahead to the next three months, the biz mindset appears to be anxious with only 35 percent of survey participants projecting an increase in sales volumes, compared to May’s 39 percent.
Moreover, half (50%) of the sample population expect their sales volumes to ‘stay the same’ (down 1%) while 15 percent anticipate their numbers to ‘get worse’ over the next three months – that’s a five percentage point increase from the previous month.
INVESTMENT CLIMATE Confidence in the investment climate remained subdued in June with no respondents viewing the outlook as ‘very good’ – compared to one percent in May.
The proportion describing the outlook as ‘good’ fell sharply by 28 percentage points to 11 percent from nearly four in 10 (39%) respondents in May. And 56 percent say the investment climate is ‘fair,’ reflecting a 14 percentage point increase from the month prior.
In contrast, a third (33%) of respondents view the investment climate as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor,’ marking a 15 percentage point increase from the preceding month.
EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS Sixteen poll participants say they intend to ‘increase’ their staff numbers, representing a four percentage point decline from May.
And more than two-thirds (68%) of those surveyed say they intend to maintain current workforce levels – down only one percentage point – while 16 percent expect to downsize over the next six months, which is a five percentage point decline from May.
– LMD
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