Minimal progress in business expectations

Compared to its historical peak at the end of 2017, GKI’s economic sentiment index advanced in January within the statistical margin of error. According to the empirical survey conducted by the economic research institute GKI, with the support of the EU, this was the result of a minimal improvement in business expectations and a slight deterioration of consumer expectations. Companies consider labor shortage the main obstacle to expansion.

The new historical peak is a consequence of a higher optimism on the part of service companies, higher than ever before, while industrial and construction expectations remained practically unchanged and commercial expectations worsened slightly.

The industrial confidence index deteriorated within the statistical margin of error compared to the end of last year. The assessment of production level and prospects, as well as incoming orders (except for exports) became more pessimistic. However, that of inventories improved a lot.

Capacity utilization has returned to pre-crisis levels. Compared its peak in December 2017, the construction confidence index remained essentially unchanged in January. The assessment of production in the preceding quarter improved in January, whereas the evaluation of incoming orders deteriorated slightly. A

t the same time, the average length of the production period filled with valid orders is unprecedentedly high, reaching 6.2 months in the construction industry.