Bulgaria Business Confidence Increases in March

Bulgaria's business climate index has improved in March led by increased optimism in industry and services, official data showed on Friday.

The total business climate indicator in March was 0.9 percentage points higher compared to the previous month, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a statement.

The business climate in industry increased by 2.3 percentage points in comparison with February due to the more favourable entrepreneurs' assessments and expectations about the development of their businesses. Most managers expect selling prices for their products to remain little changed over the next three months

However, uncertain economic environment and insufficient domestic demand remain the main factors hampering development in the industrial sector, the NSI said.

The business climate in the construction deteriorated by by 3.6 percentage points in March compared to February with a bigger portion of company owners estimating the state of their enterprises as 'satisfactory' rather than 'good'.

However,  their expectations both about the business position of their enterprises over the next six months and construction activity as a whole over the next three months are more favourable.

The business climate in retail trade dropped by 1.0 percentage point in March compared to February due to less optimistic retailers' assessments of the current business position of their companies. But retailers' forecasts about the evolution of the business climate over the next six months have improved.

Retailers' expectations about the volume of sales over the next three months have also improved. Looking at the selling prices in the retail sector, most retailers' expect them to remain stable over the next three months.

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