Business Climate: Confidence Index on Its Lowest Level

"This is a result that remains a concern," said Renganaden Padayachy the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MICCI). It released its report Business Confidence Indicator, Thursday, September 26. This quarterly survey conducted between August 30 and September 12, 2013 shows the extension of the damage already observed since the second quarter. 

A decrease of 28% in the synthetic indicator of business climate is particularly emphasized. The confidence index has lost 2.4 points (2.8%) between July and September this year. It now stands at 85.1 points, its lowest level since the launch of this indicator. "However, we note that the magnitude of the decline is less compared to the previous quarter" , said Renganaden Padayachy .

How to explain this decline? In fact, the first component of economic barometer, "Evaluations of business trends compared to sales during the quarter," is largely negative. Thus, over 38% of entrepreneurs consulted found a decrease in their sales during the quarter compared to the same period last year. 18% saw an improvement. However, the decline in the index was limited by a favorable anticipation contractors on future prospects, the second component of the barometer. 

On the other hand, this quarter, contractors plan to slightly increase their investments. Their anticipation is good for 3% of them. As for employment, the balance of opinion of companies surveyed is negative 2 points: 13% to reduce their workforce, while 11% expect to increase their staff.