Businesses’ optimism on the state of the economy was more pronounced for the fourth quarter, reaching an all-time high of 59.2 percent, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) latest survey showed.
This was more than 10 percent higher than last quarter’s 46.3 percent.
The latest results of the Business Expectations Survey (BES) also showed that business sentiment remained positive and on an uptrend since Q3 2009, with the overall confidence index (CI) rising to 45.0 percent from 43.9 percent in Q2 2010 and from 18.4 percent in Q3 2009.
The confidence index is computed as the percentage of firms that answered in the affirmative less the percentage of firms that answered in the negative with respect to their views on a given indicator.
The central bank said that the respondents attributed their optimistic outlook to the following factors: steady growth of overseas Filipinos’ (OFs) remittances, smooth transition of power and favorable expectations on the new government that could boost investor confidence in the economy, better performance of exports and sustained investment inflows, and government spending on infrastructure, social services and environment protection that could spur business activity.
Rosabel Guerrero, director of the BSP Department of Economic Statistics, said that the improvement in the overall outlook is consistent with the solid macroeconomic environment, "as evidenced by the narrowing of the country’s credit spreads, rising equity market index, appreciating peso and moderate inflation."
"The positive business sentiment likewise mirrored the improving business confidence in countries such as
The survey showed that business optimism in both the National Capital Region (NCR) and Areas Outside NCR (AONCR) improved in Q3 2010 with NCR respondents notably more upbeat in their business outlook than respondents based in AONCR.
This indicates that economic conditions and prospects remained more favorable in NCR compared to that in AONCR.
Guerrero added that businesses involved in international commodity trading continued to have a positive outlook.
"However, the optimism of exporters and dual-activity firms declined compared to a quarter ago in view of the respondents’ expectations that there will be no significant change in export demand, low volume of orders for some agricultural products during the lean months and the existing ban on tuna fishing on international waters," she added.
By employment size, all firms remained positive in their business outlook in the current and next quarters. (
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