Finance & Capital Market

Bahrain investors' business confidence rises

Bahrain’s Business Confidence Index (BCI) showcased that 91.1% of investors expect stability in the kingdom’s investment climate for the third quarter (Q3) of this year.
 
The Business Performance index stood at 99.25 points in Q3 of 2022 compared to 98.13 points registered in Q2 of 2022, an increase of 1.12 points or 1.14% than the previous quarter. The current index has shown a rise of 14.16 points compared to the same period of 2021, an Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) statement said.
 
The quarterly survey measured business confidence by company size, industry, and investment type.  A positive outlook overall was recorded in the BCI’s business performance, profits, and competition sub-indices in Q3 2022.
 
The results revealed that 91.1% of companies have a stable to optimistic outlook, which is an increase of 2.4% compared to the previous quarter. 41.5% of companies expect a stable business performance, while 49.6% anticipate improvement, it said.
 
The survey revealed that a total of 82.9% of companies experienced stable to favourable business performance during Q2 of 2022, where 61% of companies revealed stability in their performance, while 21.9% expressed satisfaction. In contrast, 17.1% of the companies showed dissatisfaction with their business performance.
 
The availability of this information helps foster an investor-friendly and competitive business environment, allowing decision-makers to take appropriate actions based on confidence levels relative to company size, industry, and investment type, said the statement.
 
Business confidence indices are calculated using the results of quarterly surveys carried out by iGA on a sample of the business community. These range from micro to large enterprises, including those classified as foreign and local investments (based on commercial registrations (Sijilat). The survey’s aim is to provide an indicator of the confidence levels of active establishments registered at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, as well as those licensed by Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), it said. -TradeArabia News Service