Economic sentiment rallies: Survey

Sentiment surrounding the economy rebounded in March as nearly half of the respondents to the latest LMD-Nielsen Business Confidence Index (BCI) survey expect conditions to improve over the next 12 months compared to the 28% that expressed this opinion in February.

On the other hand, 12% of those polled by Nielsen say the economy will deteriorate during this period while 39% believe conditions will remain the same. As for the outlook for business, 72% of businesspeople expect long-term prospects to improve – down from 76% in the prior month. However, 12% (compared to 8% in the previous months) of respondents anticipate a decline in sales volumes during this time.

Prospects for the short term also appear to have improved with nearly half of corporate executives saying sales will improve – an increase from 37% in February.

The investment climate deteriorated slightly in March with 15% (down from 19% in the previous month) of respondents viewing conditions in a positive light. However, 56% of those consulted by the pollsters do not consider this to be a good time to invest while 29% describe conditions as ‘fair’.

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

Its cover story features an exclusive interview with World Bank Country Manager for Maldives and Sri Lanka Chiyo Kanda, in which she assesses Sri Lanka’s response to COVID-19 and the objectives that the country must focus on to be more resilient to shocks in the future (for the full story, log onto www.LMD.lk).