Weak demand weighs on second-quarter business confidence

Returning to levels last seen in the first half of 2014, when the South African economy was rocked by a lengthy platinum sector strike, the Rand Merchant Bank (RMB)/Bureau for Economic Research (BER) Business Confidence Index (BCI) has continued to decline, falling by a further six index points in the second quarter of the year to 43. Noting that a growing majority of the 2 000 firms polled in the building, manufacturing, retail, wholesale and motor trade sectors regarded current business conditions as “unsatisfactory”, RMB outlined this month that the index’s retreat was likely the result of a drop in confidence among new vehicle dealers and retailers.