Industry confidence hits new record since March 2018

The Industry Confidence Index, gauged by the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), saw a 1.5 point increase from December 2019 to January this year. The figure brings the indicator to 100.9 points, the highest since March 2018 (101.4 points).

Confidence went up in 13 of the 19 industry segments surveyed by FGV. The growth in January was chiefly pulled by industrial executives’ expectations, measured by the Expectations Index, which went up 2.8 points. What contributed the most for this expansion was the evaluation of the improvement in the business environment in the six coming months.

Executives’ assessment of the present moment, as measured by the Current Situation Index, held steady from December to January.

The Installed Capacity Utilization Level grew 0.6 percentage points from December to January, and reached 75.7 percent.

In the view of FGV researcher Renata de Mello Franco, the optimism of executives tends to improve in the first half-year, but preserving this confidence hangs on the evolution of the domestic demand.