Business confidence slides to pessimism

The expectations of Moldovan businessmen have slid to pessimism, as shown by the updated Economic Confidence Indicator (ECI), which has been seen falling over the past three months, Info-Prim Neo reports. Presenting the monthly adjusted ECI report on Tuesday, the experts of the IDIS Viitorul Institute said that the declining ECI, which measures the business expectations in six main areas: agriculture, trade, construction, industry, services, and transportation, is expected to roll all the way down to the lowest level recorded at its start in June 2008. In only two areas – trade and industry – the levels of optimism of the businessmen surveyed rose on the previous month. One of the authors of the report, expert Mihai Bologan, says that, although ECI in agriculture has been the highest so far, the uncertainty about the selling prices of the grown produce makes farmers rather uneasy about their tomorrow. Concerning the rising pessimism among constructors, it is fueled by unpromising sales prospects, the expert said. The lowest ECI was reported in the area of services, with reasons linked to the typically lower purchase power of the Moldovans in the cold season, due to higher heating and electricity costs. According to the report, businessmen are expecting inflation in October to constitute 1.4 percent, which is 0.1 p.p. lower than for September. The ECI survey samples 250 corporate respondents, including 50 located on the left side of the Nistru River.