Business confidence in Russian manufacturing up slightly in April
MOSCOW. April 23 (Interfax) - The business confidence index of the Russian extractive sector was unchanged in April but the index rose slightly in manufacturing, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said.
Rosstat said the business confidence index in the Russian extractive sector was minus (-) 5% in April, as in March and February , when it rose from -7% in January, as in December, when it fell from -5% in November, -4% in October and 1% in September.
The index in manufacturing was up to -5% in April, from -6% in March and February, -9% in January and -10% in December. The index was -8% in November and -6% in October, as in September.
In the utilities sector (electricity, gas and water) the index fell to -14% in April from -11% in March, -8% in February from -2% in January from +4% in December, 6% in November and 7% in October. It was 4% in September.
Rosstat said 8% of respondents surveyed thought the economic situation at their companies in April was good and 73% satisfactory in the extractive sector, and 6% and 74%, respectively, in manufacturing.
Around 17% and 25% of respondents from the respective sectors said they expected the economic situation to improve in the next six months, 8 percentage points and 15 points more than thought the situation would deteriorate.
Respondents reported average capacity utilization at 61% in March, and 90% of respondents thought capacity would be sufficient to meet demand over the coming six months, while 11% of them said there was surplus capacity.
Among factors constraining production growth, respondents mentioned a high level of taxation, insufficient demand for production on the domestic market and general economic uncertainty.