According to Fedesarrollo, commercial confidence fell 13 percentage points and stood at 25.66%.
Fedesarrollo reported that in April 2021 the Commercial Confidence Index stood at 25.6%, which represents a reduction of 13.1 percentage points (pps) compared to the previous month. Which represents its worst fall since the fourth month of 2020, the worst month of the pandemic for the Colombian economy.
The fall in April 2021 “is mainly explained by a reduction in the company’s current economic situation indicator and to a lesser extent by a decrease in the expectations indicator for the next semester,” Fedesarrollo said.
In April there was a decline in business confidence, as had already occurred with consumer confidence. Business confidence fell 13.1 percentage points compared to the previous month, and industrial confidence fell 11.9 points.
Newsletter: https://t.co/UPaAPyOZp9 pic.twitter.com/NV5RlBoWi3
– Luis Fernando Mejía (@LuisFerMejia) May 21, 2021
For its part, the Industrial Confidence Index registered a balance of -5.1%, which represents a reduction of 11.9 pps compared to last month.
The decrease is mainly due to the 18.1 pps drop in the production expectations indicator for the next quarter, the 15.5 pps reduction in the current volume of orders and the 2.1 pps increase in the level of stocks.
The report also incorporates a module on the impact of COVID-19 in the business sector:
“In April, with respect to the company’s operating status, 81.5% of the firms surveyed did not show an effect on its operation, 17.9% operated partially, 0.6% had a temporary closure and none had a a permanent closure. Of the companies that had some degree of impairment in their operation, 47.9% affirmed that it was related to COVID-19 ”, indicates the Fedesarrollo report.
