Karachi: Pakistani businesses are regaining confidence in business opportunities in the country, but despite this, a majority of the business community has expressed concern about the direction of the country.
According to the latest survey, this perception of businesses reflects the overall political situation in the country.
According to the fourth quarter report of Gallup Pakistan’s Business Confidence Index 2024, 55% of businesses say their business is currently doing well or very well. There has been a 10% improvement in business perceptions in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the survey conducted about 6 months ago.
According to the survey report, the number of businesses reporting the worst business conditions has decreased by 7%. When ranking the current business situation, the manufacturing sector has regained less confidence than the services and trade sectors, while businesses are more optimistic about the future and the confidence score has increased by 19% compared to the last 6 months.
In the fourth quarter, 60% of businesses expressed positive expectations about the future, while 40% of businesses expressed fears that business conditions will worsen in the future.
Net business confidence increased by 36% in the fourth quarter compared to the second quarter.
According to the survey report, the decline in inflation, economic stability and interest rate cuts are the main reasons for the significant decrease in business pessimism. According to the Gallup report, the trend of the last few quarters has been consistently negative, but there has been some improvement in the current quarter.
According to 41% of businesses in the survey, the current Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government has handled the economy better, while 38% of participants described the government of former Prime Minister Imran Khan as a better manager. Similarly, according to 21% of participants, there is no difference in the performance of the two governments.
According to the survey participants, the most important problem is back-breaking inflation, which is eroding the purchasing power of consumers. 30% of businesses want a solution to this problem from the government. Overall, the survey said that all three Gallup Business Confidence areas saw improvements in the second quarter of 2024, reflecting optimism among businesses.
It should be noted that the current survey is the 14th edition of the Business Confidence survey, which was conducted by Gallup Pakistan with 482 small, medium and large businesses from more than 30 districts of the country.
