A regular monthly poll by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) has found a small improvement in views of Bulgaria’s business climate in September, driven by increased optimism in the country’s retail sector.
While there was increased optimism in Bulgaria’s retail sector, views in the service and industry sectors were largely unchanged compared with August, while the outlook among managers in the construction industry was gloomier.
The NSI said that in September 2020, the overall business climate indicator went up by 0.8 percentage points compared with August, with the indicator in the retail trade climbing by 4.2 percentage points.
Retailers had a more positive view of the business situation of their enterprises, and had improved expectations about the volume of sales and orders to be placed with suppliers over the next three months.
However, they had increasing concern about the uncertain economic environment in Bulgaria and competition in the sector, while insufficient demand also was a concern.
The indicator in the construction sector dropped by one percentage point in September compared with August.
Managers in Bulgaria’s construction industry said that the inflow of new orders had decreased in the past month, while their expectations about construction activity in the next three months had worsened, the NSI said.
The slight improvement overall in views of the business climate in Bulgaria in September is the latest consecutive month to see the trend, after in April the poll recorded a 23-year low in views of the business climate, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
