The Q2 Business Confidence Monitor

The Q2 Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) reveals an uptick in business confidence, though it experienced a dip during this quarter, largely due to concerns surrounding ongoing economic difficulties such as high inflation and rising interest rates. Confidence levels are still below the average observed before the pandemic.

Findings from Q2:

Confidence: While there has been a slight improvement in confidence compared to the first quarter, it declined as the quarter progressed. Factors contributing to this include two interest rate hikes during the survey period, slower sales growth, and various other financial and business challenges.

Sector Variation: Confidence levels vary across different sectors. The transport sector shows to be the most confident, while the property sector has been negative. Retail & wholesale confidence is borderline negative, and construction fares slightly better. For these specific sectors, interest rates have emerged as a major influencing factor.

Domestic Sales and Export Growth: Domestic sales have experienced a further slowdown, and companies expect growth to remain at the current rate in the coming year. Export growth is no longer on an upward trend.

Inflation and Salaries: Input cost inflation is projected to decrease significantly, led by the manufacturing sector. Salary growth is expected to weaken slightly, and businesses anticipate a slightly slower increase in staff levels and selling prices over the next year.

Read more about the Q2 Business Confidence Monitor insights here: