2023-07-25 13:07:30
Business leaders fear falling demand in almost all sectors. Only construction escapes the gloom.
The BNB barometer, which probes the confidence of Belgian business leaders, is down since April. In July, it continued to decline and this gloomy trend is well entrenched: the smoothed synthetic curve, which reflects the underlying economic trendfell for the first time since December last year.
Business services are particularly affected, with forecasts for general demand falling sharply.
In the trade sectorentrepreneurs are also anticipating falling demand and are rather pessimistic regarding employment forecasts.
In industry, concern prevails, except for the appreciation of the level of stocks. The degree of utilization of production capacity, adjusted for seasonal variations, fell in July, which reflects the deterioration of the economic climate in this sector.
The construction sector is the only one to escape the gloom.
The more optimistic construction
The construction sector is the only one to escape the gloom. Stable for a year, it posted a very slight increase in July. Nevertheless, demand forecasts are weakening somewhat.
If Belgian bosses show low morale, that of business leaders of Belgium’s largest trading partner, Germany, is not happier. The barometer Ifo, also published on Tuesday, fell for the third consecutive month. The German economy, which entered recession, is affected by a drop in domestic consumption, due to inflation, ECB rate hikes and high energy prices.
1690291269
#Belgian #bosses #worried
