Rio de Janeiro – Indices that track business owner confidence in trade (Icom) and services (ICS) climbed in December, Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Brazilian Institute of Economics (Ibre/FGV) reported this Thursday (26). Confidence went from 97.8 to 98.1 points in trade, and from 95 to 96.1 points in services.
The neutral threshold is 100, with scores lower than that showing pessimism, and those above it meaning an optimistic outlook. Economist Rodolpho Tobler, who coordinated the survey on trade and participated in the one on services, said results in the 90-100 range indicate moderate confidence, and results in the 100-110 range portray moderately strong confidence.
Tobler said the index on trade came close to 100 points at the end of 2019. He said business owners are cautious as to how sustainable the recovery will be. According to them, “which will hinge on a more solid improvement in confidence from consumers and the job market.”
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
