Economic sentiment gains ground: Survey

Saturday, 5 November 2022 00:30 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

NielsenIQ Director – Consumer Insights Therica Miyanadeniya said in the latest edition of leading business magazine LMD: “The pressure on businesses and consumers due to high inflation is phenomenal.”

“Businesses and people live in hope for better seasons to come, and both the LMD-NielsenIQ Business Confidence Index (BCI) and Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) reflect this sentiment. The BCI – though still at a relatively low range – has increased by 13 basis points to 89 – from 76 in September. The CCI has also gained 13 basis points from 25 in September to 38 in October,” she noted.

LMD reported: “Only 14% of respondents (drawn from the island’s corporates) to the exclusive BCI survey carried out in the first week of October say they expect the economy to improve in the 12 months to come (a dip in opinion from September’s 22%), and nearly two in 10 anticipate the economy will stagnate and ‘stay the same’.”

But despite the price hikes, 45% of business executives polled believed their sales volumes would increase in the next year, compared to only a third who felt this way in September, LMD observed.

“Executive opinion that there’s been an increase in business compared to the same time last year improved by five percentage points to 27 in October and 6% fewer reported a drop in sales volumes – i.e. 60% compared to 66% in September’s 66% – in a comparable period, at the time of the poll,” it added.

LMD also note that “optimism about an improvement in business prospects in the next quarter has also risen – perhaps in anticipation of the forthcoming festive season – to 28% from 11%; and businesses anticipating fewer sales have dropped further from 48% to 42%.”

Media Services, LMD’s publisher, said the latest edition of the magazine has been released. Its digital edition is also available on WhatsApp and the publisher’s social media platforms.

The magazine’s cover story contains insights and viewpoints from a cross-section of business leaders on both the 2022 Interim Budget and the forthcoming Budget 2023. For the full story, log onto www.LMD.lk.