Brazil: Business confidence fell to its lowest level since 2021
The Business Confidence Index (ICE), calculated by the Brazilian Institute of Economics of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (Ibre/FGV), fell to the lowest level since March 2021.
In January this year, the reduction was 2.1 points, reaching 88.6 points.
In March 2021, during the pandemic, the index reached 85.9 points.
The fall in business confidence was determined mainly by the worsening of assessments about the current business situation in the services, commerce, construction, and industry sectors.
According to the survey, the fall in business confidence reflects the continuity of the economic activity deceleration trend that started in the fourth quarter of last year and the not-very-optimistic expectations for the economy’s evolution in the short term.
“The worsening of the business environment is widespread among sectors but is perceived more markedly in the trade and services segments,” said the institute.
The survey evaluated that, in the short term, there is no perspective of change.
“Regarding the future, expectations continue worsening in the three-month horizon but showed signs of improvement in the forecasts for the next six months,” assessed Aloisio Campelo Junior, statistics superintendent of the report.
With information from Revista Oeste
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