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While the indicator of business confidence has recovered in construction, it contracted for business services.
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The confidence indicator for business leaders was fairly stable in November. This is what the National Bank of Belgium (BNB) indicates in its monthly barometer. Confidence remained unchanged in manufacturing industry and commerce. Construction is therefore the only sector of activity which saw an improvement in confidence in November. In the business services sector, business leaders have taken a more negative view of the current situation but their outlook is rather optimistic, notes the BNB.
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Companies consider that the conditions of access to bank credit have become more restrictive.
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The overall synthetic curve, which reflects the underlying economic trend, remains almost stable, at 4.2 in November, against 4 points in October. At this level, she remains well above its average since 1980 (-7 points) but it stood at 7.6 points in August and even 10.1 points in July, its record. In addition, companies consider that the conditions of access to bank credit have become more restrictive, according to the quarterly survey on the appreciation of credit conditions, conducted in October 2021.
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10% of companies believe that conditions are restrictive, against 9.1% in July. Before that, the proportion had fallen continuously since April 2020 and the start of the health crisis. It was above all companies in the construction sector that perceived the credit conditions as more restrictive (13.9% considered them difficult, against 6.5% in July).
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