Biz confidence still at a 21-year low

Saturday, 6 August 2022 00:22 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Business magazine LMD’s August edition reports that the one-of-a-kind barometer that measures business confidence in Sri Lanka remained at its 21-year low of 49 basis points in July.

“The LMD-NielsenIQ Business Confidence Index (BCI) reflects traction as there has been no further slippage from last month’s dismal 49 basis points. Still a far cry from what it was just two – but seemingly eons – months ago, of what now appears as a desirable 99 in May,” the magazine notes.

A spokesman for LMD adds: “So the question remains as to whether the index will descend to or below the all-time low of 31 in September 2001. That was when Parliament was prorogued, and the country rocked by the civil war.”

“It’s almost impossible to believe that it was but a year ago that there was optimism in the air as the full force of the pandemic ebbed, and the BCI mimicked what we see today – traction. The index in both June and July 2021 registered 87, from whence it made a steady ascent until as recently as March this year, before it began its descent,” LMD adds.

NielsenIQ’s Director – Consumer Insights Therica Miyanadeniya says in the magazine’s latest issue: “A shroud of darkness has come over Sri Lanka and people are at their wits end on how to survive… How long will it take for our economy to turn around is the question of the day.”

More than 80% of businesspeople are pessimistic about the ability of the economy to recover in the next 12 months – and neither do they expect better prospects in the year to come, LMD reports.

Media Services, which publishes LMD, says the latest edition of the pioneering magazine will be released shortly, along with its digital version which will be shared on WhatsApp and the publisher’s social media platforms (for the full BCI report, visit www.LMD.lk).