Business confidence drops to lowest level in Pakistan: survey

Entrepreneurs are getting increasingly pessimistic about the conditions of their businesses owing to the country’s political and economic situation, according to a Gallup Pakistan survey conducted in the ongoing quarter of 2022. The Gallup Business Confidence Index showed 65 per cent of business owners believe their businesses are facing bad conditions. Industrial machines businesses are doing the best out of all types of businesses, with 75pc of them believing that conditions are good. Cloth and garment shops are experiencing the worst level of confidence, with 81pc of them saying business conditions are bad. Findings of the survey show the Net Future Business Confidence score has worsened by 50pc since the beginning of 2022 and is now at -10pc. Compared to earlier this year, the number of businesses saying the country is headed in the wrong direction has gone up by 32pc. Less than 15pc of businesses in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa believe that the country is headed in the right direction.