Sovereign debt fears drag business confidence down
ONGOING fears about the impact of the sovereign debt crisis dragged businesses confidence down in June, according to the latest Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets Business Barometer.
The survey – a snapshot of businesses’ views on their own performance and wider economic prospects – shows that firms are far less optimistic about the economic outlook than last month, largely as a result of the continuing worries over the European sovereign debt crisis. The number of firms saying that they are “more optimistic now than three months ago” has slipped 13 points to 47 per cent, while the percentage that are more pessimistic has edged up three points to 27 per cent. This has resulted in an overall confidence balance of 20 per cent – a 16 point drop on the previous month.
Despite this, the balance of firms that believe their business activity will pick up over the coming year has risen four points to 35 per cent.