The Industrial Entrepreneur Confidence Index (Icei) increased in 19 of the 29 industry sectors in April compared to March 2022. According to the National Industry Confederation (CNI), the Icei remains above 50 points, even in the ten sectors in which the indicator was lower than in March. The Icei was released this Tuesday (26).
The sectors that registered the greatest increases were those of rubber products, which changed from 53.7 points in March to 59.3 points in April; cleaning, perfumery and personal hygiene (from 53.4 to 58.8 points); and metallurgy (from 53.8 points to 58.3).
The manager of Economic Analysis at CNI, Marcelo Azevedo, explains that there was a rebuilding of the confidence lost in the last quarter, which can be explained by a reassessment of the risks at the beginning of the year. “The month’s rise was significant in some sectors, but we’re not talking about unbridled optimism,” he said.
“Possibly there is a reassessment of the risks and uncertainties brought about by the new wave of covid-19 at the beginning of the year, as well as the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. This brought some relief to expectations in April. But problems in the economy, such as inflation, interest rates and complex taxation are still present and prevent optimism from taking off”, he concluded.
The business confidence index showed the biggest drop in the footwear and parts sectors, which changed from 58.8 points in March to 55.1 points in April; metal products – except machinery and equipment (from 56.5 points to 54.3 points); and printing and reproduction of recordings, a sector that dropped from 57.9 points to 55.8 points.
According to the CNI survey, “even with the fall, these sectors are still above and far from 50 points and, therefore, confident in their companies and in the economy, at the current moment and in the next six months”.
The index ranges from zero to 100 points and values above 50 indicate confidence and below that, lack of confidence. 2,229 companies were interviewed, 887 small, 830 medium and 512 large between April 1st and 11th.
