International School of Economics at TSU (ISET) updated Business Confidence Index. According to the document, for the first quarter of 2024, business confidence in Georgia decreased slightly (by 0.4 index points) and reached 17.7. The highest decrease in business confidence is observed in the trade (-15.1) sector. The negative change in BCI for Q1 2024 was driven by decreased past performance as well as less optimistic expectations.
The Past Performance Index, which considers the business sector's assessment of their own economic performance in the previous quarter, decreased by 5.0 points compared to Q4 2023 and reached 18.0 for Q1 2024, with the trade (-28.6) and manufacturing (-16.3) sectors showing the highest decline.
Expectations Index, which reflects business optimism, decreased and settled at 34.8 index points. Expectations for Q1 2024 worsened significantly for trade (-23.8) and manufacturing (-8.2) sectors.
The Sales Price Expectations Index increased moderately by 0.8 index points and reached 18.4, indicating only an insignificant increase in the share of businesses that anticipate charging higher prices on their products over the next three months.
For Q1 2024, the lack of a qualified labor force continues to be the most significant limiting factor with large companies. Access to finance coming in second. As for SMEs access to finance and the lack of demand are the critical obstacles.
