Business confidence improved markedly, but remains in contractionary territory
South African executives have become a lot less pessimistic recently. The RMB-Bureau for Economic Research (BER) business confidence index (BCI) released on Wednesday showed an 11-point jump from 34 in the fourth quarter of 2017 to 45 points in the first quarter of 2018. Although still on the pessimistic side of 50 points, RMB said an increase of such magnitude was rare. "The widespread rise in the BCI had one common cause: the recent turn for the better in domestic politics. To be sure, in the absence of the appointment of Cyril Ramaphosa as the country’s new president and his subsequent Cabinet reshuffle, among other factors, developments around business activity (and profitability) would not have justified the large 11-point jump in the BCI." The survey covered a total of 1,700 senior executives spanning five sectors and sentiment improved across the board. New motor vehicle trade registered the largest jump, with an increase of 20 points to 52 in the first quarter, while manufac...
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