Sacci’s business confidence index declines

The SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Business Confidence Index (BCI) for March, released yesterday, declined by 3.8 index points to 95.7 after rising by 2.4 points in February 2012. The March 2012 reading is the worst since March 2009, when the BCI stood at 93.1.
In March 2009 however the business cycle was in a downward phase toward a trough in December of that year. The BCI was 8.5 points below the level of March 2011 after a year-on-year decline of 2.4 points in February 2012. The fluctuations in the BCI reflect volatile confidence within an unpredictable/uncertain business climate.
Sustainable, higher levels of business confidence need a solid economic basis driven by sound structural economic fundamentals, Sacci said in a statement.