There was a general downward trend in business the previous quarter, regardless of the type of company - national or foreign - and this reached the lowest level since June 2015. The managers of foreign companies are worst-hit by the local context. No type of area of activity was spared. The biggest decline was witnessed in the financing, banking and insurance sectors, while the business climate reached the worst state ever. The Business Barometer for the fourth quarter of 2015 was presented by the France – Moldova Chamber of Trade and Industry, the public association “Moldovan-German Economic Cooperation” and Magenta Consulting on March 22, IPN reports.
Even if the questioned companies expected positive development perspectives the previous quarter, the expectations also diminished considerably. The companies are more prudent and do not expect an improvement in their business during the next quarter. The companies operating in agriculture and agrifood industry are more pessimistic. The polled companied continued to invest during the last quarter, according to the predictions stated in the last poll. The trend remains the same for the next quarter even if the wish to invest is moderate or close to zero among foreign companies. The companies from banking and insurance plan to reduce the investments during the next quarter.
The number of employees at the interviewed companies decreased slightly in the previous quarter, despite the plans to hire new people. The global trend is yet slightly more positive for the next quarter. The national companies intend to extend the personnel to some extent. The foreign investors remain prudent and do not plan new hirings in the production sector.
The perception of the reality related to the business climate is very negative and went down to the lowest level ever. The foreign companies alongside the companies from the financing, banking and insurance sectors expressed serious concerns. In general, no type or area of activity is optimistic in this regard.
The poll was carried out on a representative sample of 562 Moldovan and foreign companied located all over the country between January 18 and February 5.
