RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Industrial Entrepreneur Confidence Index (ICEI) remained stable from August to September at 59.4 points, the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) reported on September 19th. This stability interrupted a three-month consecutive sequence of rises.
According to the CNI, the figures show that Brazilian entrepreneurs’ confidence remains high with this stability: the ICEI is 4.8 points above its historical average (54.5) and 6.6 points above that recorded in September 2018 (52.8).
The survey indicators range from zero to 100 points. When above 50 points, they show that entrepreneurs are confident.
“Confidence remains high due to a combination of optimistic future prospects, among them the approval of the Social Welfare reform and progress in the discussion of the tax reform, and due to a perceived improvement in the companies’ current activity,” says CNI economist Marcelo Azevedo.
According to CNI, the ICEI’s stability in September is due to the variation in opposite directions of its two components. One of them, the Current Conditions Index, grew 0.8 points compared to August and reached 51.9 points in September. It is the second consecutive positive variation in the index, which had risen 4.1 points in the previous month.
The second, the Expectations Index, recorded a slight drop of 0.4 points in September. This reduction interrupts a three-month upward sequence and is exclusively due to expectations regarding the Brazilian economy since expectations regarding the companies themselves remained stable during the month.
Entrepreneurs from medium-sized companies recorded an improvement in their confidence in September. For them, the index increased 0.7 points and reached 60.2 points. Small-scale companies recorded a 0.2 point drop to 58.6 points. For large companies entrepreneurs, the indicator also dropped: a 0.3 point reduction to 59.4 points.