Business confidence improves in March

ANKARA

The real sector confidence index increased from 102 in February to 103.5 in March, the Central Bank has said.

Any figure above the 100-mark indicates optimism among businesses.

The sub-index of the general business situation surged from 89.5 to 91.1, the bank’s data showed on March 22.

The indices for output volume and export orders in the next month surged, but the gauge of current orders declined in March compared to February.

The index of total employment inched up from 108.4 last month to 108.8 in March.

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) separately reported that confidence in the services sector rose 1.5 percent in March after rising 1.6 percent month-on-month in February.

In the retail industry, confidence was down 1 percent, which came on top of the similar decline in business sentiment in the sector last month.

The confidence index in the construction sector plunged 3.6 percent in March after rising 1 percent in February.

The Central Bank also reported on March 22 that the seasonally adjusted capacity utilization rate in the manufacturing sector fell slightly from 76.4 percent in February to 76.2 percent in March.

Companies in the consumer goods manufacturing sector worked at 73.3 percent capacity in March, down from 73.6 percent in the previous month.

The capacity usage in the capital goods sector inched up from 76.4 percent to 76.5 percent, but in the intermediate goods sector the rate retreated from 76.7 percent to 76.5 percent.

In the food sector, the capacity utilization was 73.8 percent, down from the previous month’s 75.1 percent.