For the second quarter of 2021, BCI decreased by 1.7 index points and reached 1.7 after a significant increase in the previous quarter. The highest decline in business confidence is observed in retail trade, followed by the agriculture and construction sectors. The negative change in BCI for Q2 2021 is driven by pessimistic future expectations.
The Past Performance Index, which considers the business sector's assessment of their own economic performance in the previous quarter, increased by 25.0 points compared to Q1 2021 and reached -4.1 in Q2 2021. The finance sector has the greatest improvement in past performance.
Expectations Index, which reflects business optimism, decreased after the drastic increase in Q1 2021, amounting to 9.0 points. Expectations for Q2 2021 declined for retail trade, construction, and service sectors.
The Sales Price Expectations Index decreased by 12.4 and reached 17.2 points, indicating a decreased share of businesses that anticipate increasing prices on their products. Service and construction are the only sectors where a higher share of businesses predicts increasing prices in the future.
Limited access to financing and a lack of demand continues to be one of the most significant obstacles for both large companies and SMEs. Access to financing turns out to be a more important problem for SMEs compared to large companies.