Poll: Business climate in Bulgaria worsens in December
A regular monthly poll has found that the business climate in Bulgaria is seen as unfavourable, declining by 1.7 percentage points compared to November, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said on December 30.
This was the second consecutive month of decline, reversing the six-month upward trend recorded after the indicator plunged to a 23-year low in April amid the Covid-19 crisis.
The poll covers four sectors in Bulgaria. In two – retail and the service sector – the indicator was down, while construction recorded no change and the industry sector was up.
In Bulgaria’s retail trade, the indicator fell by 5.8 percentage points compared with November, with retailers negative in their assessments and expectations regarding their enterprises. Their forecasts about both the volume of sales and orders to be placed with suppliers over the next three months were reserved.
The service sector indicator dropped by 7.8 percentage points. Managers were pessimistic both in their assessment of their enterprises and about current and future demand in the sector.
The construction sector was up by 2.6 percentage points, on the back of positive assessments of the current state of companies and expectations for the future by managers.
The poll results came at the close of a month in which Bulgaria has been under a number of restrictions meant to slow down the increases in the figures for active cases and deaths from Covid-19. Earlier in December, the Cabinet decided to extend the measures, with some exceptions, to the end of January 2021.
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
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