Economic sentiment at post-war low: Survey

The latest LMD-Nielsen Business Confidence Index (BCI) survey suggests that the downward trend in economic optimism has continued to reach a post-war low in April.

Of the corporate executives polled, only 5% expect an improvement in economic conditions over the next 12 months compared to 11% in the previous month.

Meanwhile, a greater number (47% versus 44% in March) of respondents expect conditions to worsen over the same period. One executive cites Sri Lanka’s “general economic flow” and political instability, while expressing uncertainty when it comes to the ability of his business or the economy to improve in the next few months.

The survey also reveals that business prospects are largely expected to remain the same in the short and long terms as a notable majority (48% and 57% respectively) of survey participants do not expect to witness a change in their sales volumes. LMD notes that sentiment surrounding the investment climate has declined as a massive majority (97%, up from 93% in the prior month) of corporate respondents deem it to be ‘fair’ or worse with one executive stating that uncertainty about the economy and Government has impacted local investors.

Media Services, which publishes the pioneering business magazine, says the May edition of LMD has been released to leading supermarkets and bookstores in Colombo and the outstations.

Its cover story features an exclusive interview with the Export Development Board (EDB) Chairperson Indira Malwatte, in which she discusses Sri Lanka’s export economy and the organisation’s plans to drive growth.

For the full story, log onto www.LMD.lk.