South Africa’s Business Confidence Index
(BCI) for October 2014 dropped to the lowest in 25 years as the 88.8 index
points for the period is the lowest level since October 1999.
In a statement, SACCI said the BCI of
88.8 is the lowest October level since October 1999. The lowest ever reading
for the BCI since its inception in 1985 was in April 1985 at 76.1. The BCI’s highest reading was 122.1 in
December 2006. The current BCI is based
on 2010 as its base year set at 100.
It said that the BCI decreased by 0.4
index points in October, from 89.2 in September this year. The index was 2.3
points below the level of a year ago when it measured 91.1 in October 2013.
While eleven of the thirteen sub-indices
of the BCI were either positive or neutral in October compared to that of
September, SACCI said that the overall BCI index still declined slightly as six
sub-indices did not materially change between September and October 2014.
SACCI explained that the poor performance
of the BCI this year has brought into account whether the economy and business
climate could improve in the short term.
In order to improve business confidence, the private sector needs to be convinced that the South African economy is entering a new era of economic growth, it added.
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