Business confidence wanes

Monday, 6 November 2023 00:26 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

“Business confidence remains clouded by ongoing developments and heavily dependent on their outcomes,” pioneering business magazine LMD says, in its November edition.

It explains, “The LMD-NielsenIQ Business Confidence Index (BCI) shed six basis points in October to register 75. The barometer has displayed a somewhat volatile trajectory since July, falling from 103 in June to 73 in August and rebounding to 81 in September, only to dip again in October.”

A spokesperson for LMD adds, “The index is 14 basis points shy of where it stood a year ago and 12 notches less than its median since then.”

She continues, “Thankfully, the IMF’s review of the four-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) has been completed; but ongoing debt discussions with creditors, disinflation, fluctuating fuel prices and the added complexity of the Israel-Palestine conflict are influencing and shaping business sentiment these days.”

LMD also notes that the forthcoming Budget 2024 and surging oil prices will impact the index in the near term and that it “maintains its assertion of recent months that the one of a kind index will continue to remain in negative territory.”

LMD’s publisher, Media Services, says the November edition of the magazine has been released. Its digital version has been shared on WhatsApp and the publisher’s social media platforms (the full BCI report will be uploaded on its website – www.LMD.lk).