After three consecutive increases, the Industrial Business Confidence Index (ICEI) fell 0.5 percentage points in February, however in comparison with the previous month, and stood at 64.8 points, reported the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) this Wednesday (19).
The survey was conducted from February 3rd to 12th, with 2,393 companies. Although the indicators range from zero to one hundred points, when they are above 50 points, they indicate that businessmen are “confident”.
At 64.8 points in February, the ICEI is 10 points above the historical average and 0.3 points higher than that recorded in February 2019.
Confident Entrepreneurs
Thus, despite the drop in the ICEI, CNI economist Marcelo Azevedo assessed that confidence "remains high." "This means that business owners remain willing to increase production, hiring, and investment," he added.
Azevedo highlighted that the drop in confidence is due more to the change in businesspeople's perception of the current and future conditions of the Brazilian economy than to the companies themselves.
"While the indexes related to the company, whether related to the assessment of current conditions or expectations, fell less than half a point between January and February, the indexes related to the Brazilian economy registered drops of more than one point," said the economist.
According to the survey, industrial entrepreneur confidence increased slightly in small companies and decreased in medium and large companies.
Compared to January, the February ICEI fell 0.5 points for medium-sized industries. For large industries, the decline was 0.9 points. For small industries, the increase was 0.2 points month-on-month.
Furthermore, the survey shows that confidence increased by 0.9 points and reached 65.5 points among businesspeople in the Central-West region.
In other regions, the indicator declined. In the Southeast, the drop was 0.9 points, with the ICEI reaching 63.7 points in February. In the Northeast, the decline was 0.7 points, with the indicator falling to 63.8 points.