Brasília – Brazilian industrialist confidence dropped to the lowest level in over four years. According to the survey released this Monday (16th) by Brazil’s National Confederation of Industry (CNI, in the Portuguese acronym), the Industrialist Confidence Index posted 47.5 points in June.
With the performance this month, the index is at the same level seen in 2009, at the height of the international financial crisis. According to the CNI, the scepticism is only second to January 1999’s, when the country was facing the exchange crisis driven by the devaluation of real. In that month, the index reached 46.5 points.
For the third consecutive month, the confidence index stood below 50 points. According to the CNI, figures below this threshold show distrust in relation to the future of economy. The pessimism is higher in the construction industry, which posted 46.7 points. Processing industry posted 48.5 points.
Only extractive industry showed optimism, at 50.6 points. Though near the threshold, the index was up 1.8 point in relation to May. By region, the index was below 50 points among businessmen from the South, Southeast and Middle-West. North and Northeast’s index was over this value.
According to the CNI, 2,636 companies from all over the country took part in the survey conducted between June 2nd and 11th. Out of the total, 992 are small, 1,001 are middle, and 643 are large-sized companies.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
