Brasília – The confidence of industrialists in the Brazilian economy decreased 0.7% in July, in comparison with the previous month. The figures of the Industry Confidence Index (ICI) were disclosed today (29) by the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and indicate that "the industry is still expanding, although at a slightly lower pace than recorded in the second half of 2007."
According to the survey, from April to July this year, the share of businessmen for whom the current state of affairs is good increased from 31.1% to 40.2%. An expansion was also observed among those who regard the situation as weak, from 6.3% to 7.6% during the same period.
As for the next six months, the businessmen were more cautious in assessing the state of affairs. From the total of 1,042 companies surveyed, 56.9% are expecting improvement and 7,2% expect the situation to worsen. Last April, the figures were similar, but in July 2007 the result had been much more favourable, at 62.9% and 4.2%, respectively.
Data for the survey were collected from the 1st to the 25th this month.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
