Monthly Bulletin of Economic Trends

IEER quarterly business climate survey results, April 2018

For concluding its Quarterly Business Climate Index survey, IEER asked 400 CEOs about the situation and the outlook of their businesses. The basis used for calculating the Quarterly Business Climate Index and the Quarterly Uncertainty Index was a sample of 300 small and medium-sized enterprises (20-249 employees) and 100 large enterprises (employing 250 people or more). Surveyed small and medium-sized enterprises were evaluated by using our SME Outlook Business Climate Index and SME Outlook Uncertainty Index.

According to our survey conducted in April 2018, the level of business confidence in Hungary was slightly higher quarter on quarter. The Quarterly Business Climate Index was up from 37 points in January to 39. The index has never been this high since business climate records began in 2010 (see figure 1). The Quarterly Uncertainty Index was at 28 points, 4 points lower than the level of the previous quarter. Uncertainty Index values suggest that the business situation has been given a more consistent evaluation by domestic companies compared to the previous quarter.

If business confidence levels are examined in the small and medium-sized sector only, we can see an other improving tendency: Since January, the SME Outlook Business Climate Index has increased by three points to a record-breaking 38 (see figure 2). The SME Outlook Uncertainty Index is at 34 points, having decreased by one point since January 2018 - this value indicates that small and medium-sized enterprises have been of a slightly more uniform opinion...

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