Here’s why Pakistan’s business confidence has reached an all-time low
Pakistani entrepreneurs are becoming increasingly pessimistic about the state of their businesses as a result of the country’s political and economic situation. According to the Gallup Pakistan Business Confidence Index, 66% of business owners believe their companies are in trouble, according to Dawn news. Industrial machine businesses are doing the best of all types of businesses, with 75% believing that conditions are favorable. Cloth and garment shops have the lowest level of confidence, with 81% saying business conditions are bad, according to a survey cited by Dawn. The Net Future Business Confidence score has dropped by 50% since the beginning of 2022 and is now at -10%.
When compared to earlier this year, the number of businesses that believe the country is heading in the wrong direction has increased by 32%. Less than 15% of businesses in Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa believe the country is on the right track. The
Gallup Business Confidence Report for the fourth quarter of 2022 paints an ominous picture. The index values are the lowest since Gallup began the project in 2019, which includes the Covid-19 time’s executive director of Gallup Pakistan and chief architect of the Gallup Pakistan Business Confidence Index.
The report comes as Pakistan experiences its worst floods in decades. The business community expects the government to take strong and decisive action. Inflation remains the most-cited problem that businesses want the government to solve by the end of this year, according to the findings of a survey conducted in the first quarter of 2022. Loadshedding was reported by up to 72% of the businesses polled on a daily basis. The number of businesses experiencing load shedding increased significantly in the fourth quarter. Approximately 19% of businesses that reported experiencing load shedding within a day experienced it for two hours.
81% of businesses do not believe the court system is fair, impartial, and uncorrupted, compared to 7% in the first quarter of 2022. According to survey results, more businesses in Balochistan disagree with the notion that the court system is fair, impartial, and uncorrupted than in any other province.
