Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB) yesterday published Brunei Darussalam’s Business Sentiment Index (BSI) for the month of September 2022. The index is based on surveys conducted on more than 600 micro, small, medium and large-sized businesses from 11 economic sectors in Brunei Darussalam, across all districts.
Looking ahead, businesses were generally optimistic of their performance in October 2022 as indicated by the index for one month (1M] ahead, which stood at 50.5. This was driven by expectations of more projects and activities, compared to September 2022.
The monthly index is designed to measure the level of business confidence/sentiment in the country covering various aspects including current and future business conditions; investments; employment of workers; as well as costs of running the businesses. Therefore, BSI serves as a leading macroeconomic indicator with its forward-looking element.
The BSI and sub-indices can be interpreted as above 50 – expansion/optimism compared to the previous month; 50 – similar/no change compared to the previous month; and below 50 – contraction/less optimism compared to the previous month.
There are nine sub-indices within the BSI. The Current Business Conditions sub-index, being the main headline index for the BSI, was 50.1 in September 2022.
In general, private sector businesses were slightly optimistic towards their current business conditions on expectations of an increase in activities, sales and projects following the September school holiday period and multiple events throughout the month.
However, businesses in several sectors expected sales to drop due to the increased number of people travelling abroad during the school holidays, while others also expected their general performance to be more or less the same in September compared to the previous month.
Source: Borneo Bulletin
Read the full article here
November 25, 2022
