Fewer firms closing down, or opening up

The first four months of the year saw fewer companies closing but also fewer new enterprises being set up, a development linked to a hesitant stance from business people ahead of political developments this year.

Figures from the General Commercial Register (GEMH) have revealed that in this January-April period 12,512 new businesses were opened, against 13,405 in the same period last year, which constitutes a decline by 6.6 percent year-on-year. At the same time 5,077 enterprises shut down, compared with 7,343 in the first four months of last year, a major reduction of 31 percent.

More than half of the companies that left the commercial register in that period - 2,886 enterprises - were one-person firms.

Notably the statistics of corporate shut-downs do not only include companies that went bankrupt or went into liquidation, but also those that merged with...