Business Sentiment Edges Up in July
Ljubljana, 25 July (STA) - The business sentiment in Slovenia improved in July, rising 1 percentage points over June. The confidence index however remains down 11 percentage points year-on-year and 15 points below the long-term average, the Statistics Office said on Wednesday.
The index was up one point over June in manufacturing and up two points
in construction. It dropped four points in retail and one point in
services.
In a year-on-year comparison, the index was down 12 points
in manufacturing (8 points below long-term average), up 5 points in
construction (26 points below long-term average), down 1 point in retail (8
points below long-term average) and down 14 in services (28 points below
long-term average).
Insufficient demand was listed as the most
important limiting factor in all four statistical areas.
The most
important limiting factors in retail were low demand (54%), competition in
own sector (51%) and high costs of labour (44%).
In construction, the
statisticians listed insufficient demand (51%), competition in own sector
(39%), high costs of labour (38%), high costs of material (36%), high
financial costs (33%) and access to bank credits (32%).