BUDAPEST: A gauge of SME confidence by the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industryʼs (MKIK) Economy and Business Research Institute (GVI) fell to 21 points in July compared to 24 points in April, Hungarian news agency MTI reported yesterday.
The index dropped on worsening expectations, especially for expected capacity utilization rates and production. SMEs also reported feeling less confident about future employee numbers and the current level of order stocks and profitability figures.
Companies felt more confident about the current and future business environment and investment opportunities, but this failed to balance the drop in the other indicators. Despite the drop of the main index in the second quarter, business confidence is still stronger than it was on average between January 2010 and January 2015. SMEsʼ uncertainty, gauged by a separate index, decreased by 4 points to 35 points.