Business confidence stabilises

Following a surge to 122 in January, the LMD-Nielsen Business Confidence Index (BCI) dipped by two basis points to 120 in February. Leading business magazine LMD suggests that this could indicate stability in the index as the Government looks to vaccinate a sufficient number of citizens to achieve herd immunity sooner rather than later.

Nielsen’s Director – Consumer Insights Therica Miyanadeniya notes: “The COVID-19 situation has not abated in Sri Lanka, and new cases as well as deaths continue to rise. In spite of this, Sri Lankans are bravely forging ahead cautiously in order to salvage their businesses, which were badly hit in 2020…”

LMD notes that the impact of COVID-19 continues to be among the most pressing issues cited by businesspeople in Sri Lanka, followed by inflation, and bribery and corruption.

According to Miyanadeniya, the identification of a new and more virulent strain of the virus in Sri Lanka, and an increasing rate of infection and deaths, could hamper the country’s ability to return to some sort of normalcy, stating that “if this trend continues, there is a possibility that both indices (the BCI and Nielsen’s Consumer Confidence Index) will plummet again.”

Commenting on the outlook for the BCI, a spokesperson for LMD says: “The pace and effectiveness of Sri Lanka’s immunisation programme is likely to drive sentiment in the near term – along with whether or not the spread of COVID-19 continues.”

Media Services, which publishes LMD, says the latest edition of the magazine will be released shortly while its digital version is available on WhatsApp and its social media platforms (for the full BCI report, visit www.LMD.lk).