August 5 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's business climate was little changed on a monthly comparison basis in July, the country's statistical office said.
Improvement was seen in the industry and retail trade sectors, whereas the construction sector registered a decline and the services sector remained at its June level, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a monthly business climate survey last week.
The composite indicator in the industry sector rose by 2.1 pp on the month in July, as industrial entrepreneurs expressed optimistic assessments of the current business situation of the enterprises as well as favourable expectations on exports and production activity over the next quarter.
"The main difficulties for the activity of the enterprises remain connected with the uncertain economic environment and shortage of labour," the NSI said.
Managers' expectations point to an increase in selling prices in the next three months.
Business sentiment decreased by 2.9 pp compared to June, on the back of entrepreneurs' worsened expectations of the business situation of enterprises as well as an estimated drop in new orders in the next six months.
The negative influence of economic uncertainty, cost of materials and labour shortages is seen to have aggravated over the past month.
In retail, the business climate indicator edged up by 0.7 pp in July, on the back of optimistic estimates of the business situation in the next half year. However, retailers had reserved forecasts on the volume of sales and orders placed with suppliers over the next quarter.
Close to 69% of retail businesses see the prevailing economic uncertainty as the major hurdle to business activity, compounded by competition in the branch and inadequate demand.
Lastly, the business sentiment indicator in the services sector was the only one to remain flat compared to June, with managers' assessments of present demand favourable and their expectations for the next three months becoming more moderate.