According to the most recent version of the Gallup Business Confidence Index, which was made public on Friday, business confidence continued to decline in the first three months of 2023 despite several economic problems.
Political instability from last year has persisted in mixing with other economic difficulties and creating business uncertainty.”
The ninth wave of the survey is based on 520 company owners interviewed across Pakistan in the first quarter of 2023. The three main threads of the exercise were the nations direction, the current state of business, and the state of business in the future. Index values decreased quarter over quarter to a record low in each of the three strands.
According to two-thirds of the firms questioned, things were as severe as previously. The percentage of companies reporting “extremely unfavourable” business conditions increased by 7%. The Current Business Situation Score decreased by one percentage point from the previous quarter, at -32pc.
Businesses reporting that their financial situation will worsen climbed by 7% over the previous quarter. Businesses said that 61 percent of them had “poor” views for the future, while only 38 percent thought things would get better. Every quarter, the Future Business Confidence Score declined by 11 percentage points to -22pc.
During January and March, the perceptions of the business community on the direction of the nation deteriorated, falling from 75% to 79%, with as many as 90% of the firms believing that the nation was going on the wrong path.
The “most-cited concern” that most companies (45%) want the government to address is still inflation. Although fewer of the same respondents said the government should lower utility rates than in the previous quarter, a greater percentage of firms requested the government to “assist with currency depreciation.”