Confidence in the economy improved marginally in June as the corporate community adopted a cautiously optimistic outlook – despite persistent concerns over rising costs, geopolitical tensions and broader economic uncertainties.

THE ECONOMY The latest LMD-PEPPERCUBE Business Confidence Index (BCI) survey, conducted in the first week of June, reflects a modest improvement in economic optimism.

Almost a third (32%) of polled respondents expect the economy to ‘improve’ over the next 12 months, which reflects a four percentage point increase from May. Less than half (48%) believe conditions will ‘stay the same’ – down eight points from the previous month.

Another 20% anticipate that the economy will ‘get worse,’ marking a four point spike from May.

SALES VOLUMES Expectations regarding sales volumes improved only marginally. Forty per cent anticipate an improvement over the next 12 months, compared to 38% in the month prior.

However, nearly half (49%) of respondents expect their sales volumes to ‘stay the same,’ reflecting a five percentage point decline, while 11% of respondents surveyed believe sales volumes will ‘get worse’ – up three points from the preceding month.

Meanwhile, nearly a third (31%) report an ‘increase’ in sales volumes in the last year – a notable 15 percentage point fall from the preceding month.

And slightly over four in 10 (43%) say their sales volumes ‘stayed the same’ – unchanged from May – while over a quarter (26%) report an increase (up by 15 points from 11% in the preceding month).

Looking ahead to the next three months, the biz mindset appears to be anxious with only 35% of survey participants projecting an increase in sales volumes, compared to May’s 39%.

Moreover, half (50%) of the sample population expect their sales volumes to ‘stay the same’ (down 1%) while 15% anticipate their numbers to ‘get worse’ over the next three months – that’s a five percentage point increase from the previous month.

Confidence in the investment climate remained subdued in June with no respondents viewing the outlook as ‘very good’ – compared to one per cent in May.

The proportion describing the outlook as ‘good’ fell sharply by 28 percentage points to 11% from nearly four in 10 (39%) respondents in May. And 56% say the investment climate is ‘fair,’ reflecting a 14 percentage point increase from the month prior.

In contrast, a third (33%) of respondents view the investment climate as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor,’ marking a 15 percentage point increase from the preceding month.

EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS Sixteen poll participants say they intend to ‘increase’ their staff numbers, representing a four percentage point decline from May.

And more than two-thirds (68%) of those surveyed say they intend to maintain current workforce levels – down only one percentage point – while 16% expect to downsize over the next six months, which is a five percentage point decline from May.

LMD