Sri Lanka Business Confidence dropped by 39.6 % in Nov 2022, compared with a decrease of 44.0 % YoY in the previous month. Census and Economic Information Center (CEIC) announced.
Sri Lanka Business Confidence: YoY Change is updated monthly, available from May 2016 to Nov 2022, with an averaged rate of 0.4 %.The data reached an all-high of 74.0 % in Mar 2021 and a record low of -73.8 % in Mar 2020.
The Census and Economic Information Center (CEIC) is located within the Montana Department of Commerce, is part of the Research and Information Services Bureau (RIS) and is the official State Data Center SDC for the state.
CEIC calculates Business Confidence Change from monthy Purchasing Managers Index. Central Bank of Sri Lanka provides Purchasing Managers Index with range from 0 to 100 with neutral point 50. Business Confidence covers Manufacturing sector only.
Menwhile Business magazine LMD, in its latest edition, said that as 2022 ends: “the exclusive business barometer falls and withdraws its promise of hope.”
LMD continued: “As nitty-gritties with regard to the IMF bailout are still to be resolved – especially with regard to debt restructuring with Sri Lanka’s creditors and the implications of budget 2023 sink in – it would seem that corporates have retracted their optimism.”
The LMD-NielsenIQ Business Confidence Index (BCI) fell by as many as 12 basis points – from 98 in November to 86 a month later, the magazine reports.
It added that: “The business sentiment barograph is now an insurmountable 33 basis points away from where it stood in December 2021 (119); and one can only surmise its trajectory in the New Year.”
NielsenIQ Consumer Insights Director Therica Miyanadeniya in LMD asserted: “The end of 2022 is at hand and for the past two years, the calendar ended with hope for a better tomorrow. However, reflecting on the past three years, and the current state of affairs in the country, 2023 is very uncertain.”
LMD noted that the index is no way below March’s 132, the highest for 2022 – that was when business sentiment was high even at a time when the nation faced myriad challenges.
A spokesperson for LMD explained that: “Against the backdrop of uncertainty on many fronts, it could well be that the index will continue to fluctuate as business sentiment ebbs and flows between victories and defeats.”
“And the new year could get off to a rocky start as calls for local Government polls intensify, which may mean that political strife comes back on the radar, which in turn will pose new challenges to businesses and their viability,” she added.
Media Services, LMD’s publisher, says the January edition of the pioneering magazine will be released shortly, along with its digital version,
