Election jitters knock business confidence to seven-month low
The rand, load-shedding, electricity tariff hike and slump in manufacturing output weighed on the index
Jitters ahead of the national election have weighed on business confidence, dragging it to its lowest level since August. The SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (Sacci's) business confidence index (BCI) declined to 91.8 in March from 93.4 in February. “The BCI reflects a depressed business climate that is dominated by concerns over continued difficult and uncertain domestic economic circumstances. The upcoming May 8 2019 general election adds to this uncertainty,” Sacci said in a statement on Wednesday. The index is a measure of the volume of activity rather than a poll of sentiment, and has a relatively strong relationship with economic growth. Six of the 13 sub-indices of the BCI improved on their February 2019 readings, while four declined and three were unchanged. The rand, load-shedding, the electricity tariff increase and an ease in manufacturing output weighed on the index.
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