Sentiment nears post-war high - LMD

The unique index that measures business and investor sentiment in this country The LMD-Nielsen Business Confidence Index shot up by 10 points and to within striking distance of its post-war high of 161.

"At 155 in November, the confidence scale is certainly looking up," said the business magazine LMD.

The November results of the exclusive monthly survey commissioned by LMD and undertaken by leading research firm the Nielsen Company brings good news for the Government - it represents an "unexpected jump in the index at a time when a political war is about to erupt and powerful trade unions threaten to strike", the journal says.

Our economic prospects are also being viewed positively, LMD notes. "There's absolutely no change in how businesspeople view Sri Lanka's medium-term economic prospects, with two-thirds stating that their belief is that things "will get better" in the next 12 months - for the third month in succession."

It said: "And two-thirds of the Nielsen Company's sample population also believe that their sales volumes "will get better" in the year ahead, which is an improvement on October's 58 percent but 10 percentage points below the September outcome."

The survey concludes that a majority of 53 percent of its participants "have high expectations of what may transpire in the next three months, as has been the case since September. But less businesspeople now expect their volumes "will get worse" - 16 percent in November, down from a range of 25 to 31 percent in the four preceding months."

As for investment and FDIs, 73 percent of those who expressed an opinion on the investment climate in November feel that it is fair or better.

This, said LMD, "is not inconsistent with what has been conveyed in recent months. In May this year, however, less than 30 percent were positive about our war-torn island's FDI prospects."

The December issue of LMD will be released to bookshops and supermarkets islandwide on December 4.