Economic sentiment continues to shrink: Survey

Sentiment surrounding the economy continued to dwindle in August as a mere 6% of respondents to the latest LMD-NielsenIQ Business Confidence Index (BCI) survey believe that conditions will improve in the next 12 months – down from 10% in the previous month.

The majority of those consulted by NielsenIQ say economic conditions are likely to deteriorate in the coming 12 months while another 36% are of the opinion that it will ‘stay the same’.

However, the outlook for business over the short and long terms appears to have improved.

According to the survey, 60% (compared to 56% in July) of respondents anticipate an increase in sales volumes in the next 12 months while 24% say they will improve over the coming three months. This marks an improvement over the 56% and 16% respectively who said so in July.

As for the investment climate, sentiment has improved compared to the previous month as 11% of the survey sample describe conditions as ‘good’ or better.

However, the majority (78%) continue to have a negative outlook and do not consider this to be a good time to invest in Sri Lanka. The publisher of LMD, Media Services, says the September 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 LOLC Holdings Group Managing Director and CEO Kapila Jayawardena, in which he assesses the state of business in Sri Lanka (for the full story, log onto the LMD website).