Business confidence picks up slightly

Leading business magazine LMD reported in its latest monthly edition that the business confidence gauge gained some ground in March, following the free fall in the previous month.

The LMD-NielsenIQ Business Confidence Index (BCI) – the only gauge of its kind in Sri Lanka – has regained some lost ground to register 72 basis points, it added that: “The reality, however, is that it is a whopping 60 points lower than it was a year ago (132) and 52 notches below the all-time average (124).”

“Even if we were to compare the March result with the last 12 months, which has been as despairing as any other such term, the index is eight points shy of the average of 80,” LMD added.

On a more positive note, NielsenIQ’s Director Consumer Insights Therica Miyanadeniya explained: “There’s been a pick up in tourism and migrant worker remittances to the country.”

As for sensitivities, a spokesperson for the magazine explained: “The uncertainly that surrounds the Local Government polls is at the top of the list of sensitivities as far as the short-term outlook is concerned.”

“Any prospect of poll related violence – and the political instability that could follow – will undermine business confidence,” she added, although the magazine cited the IMF’s recently approved funding program as being among the positives that may underpin the BCI in the months ahead.

LMD publisher Media Services, said the April 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).