Business confidence weighed down by load shedding
Business Confidence Index declined for a fifth consecutive quarter in the second quarter of 2023, down nine points from the first quarter to 27 points – the lowest level of confidence since 2020.
The gloomy sentiment was shared among respondents, with three of the five sectors seeing their confidence level decline while the other two remained unchanged. The third sector where business confidence declined was wholesale traders. Confidence declined by eight to 32 index points in the second quarter as sales volumes of consumer goods came under pressure. Like most other sectors, the wholesale confidence level is well below its long-term average level.
This underscores that there is more dragging down confidence than just a drop in output. Respondents flagged load shedding as a continued drag on sentiment as it hurts production capacity, increases costs and negatively affects profitability.
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