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Prices are yet to rise. Nearly 38% of traders forecast a rise in prices over the next three months. And in construction, more than 50% of managers expect prices to rise. This shows a survey of the National Statistical Institute among company managers, reports “Trud”.
In March 2022, the business climate deteriorated sharply compared to February. This is due to unfavorable changes in the conditions for doing business in industry, retail and services, according to the NSI survey. Among the reasons for this are the uncertain economic environment, further aggravated by the war in Ukraine and EU sanctions against Russia.
The business climate in retail trade deteriorated most sharply in March. This is due to the reserved expectations of traders for the state of the companies in the next six months. Managers’ estimates of sales volume over the past three months, as well as their expectations for the next three months, are more moderate.
The most serious obstacle hindering the activities of retailers remains the uncertain economic environment, cited by 70.7% of respondents. In the background remain the difficulties associated with competition in the industry and insufficient demand. But more and more often, retailers point to labor shortages as a problem.
At the same time, there is a sharp increase in retailers, who expect prices to rise in the next three months. In March, nearly 38% of traders forecast that prices will rise. By comparison, in October last year, only 22% of retailers expected prices to rise.
And during the winter months we have already seen a serious rise in prices, and inflation has reached 10%. The latest NSI survey from March shows that the share of traders who expect an increase in sales prices in the coming months is more than 70% higher than in October.
The business climate in industry is also deteriorating significantly. The assessments of the industrial entrepreneurs for the current state of the enterprises are reserved, and their expectations for the next six months are deteriorating. At the same time, their forecasts for production activity over the next three months are pessimistic.
The main obstacles to the activity of industrial enterprises remain related to the uncertain economic environment, labor shortages and insufficient demand from the country, as the survey reports an increase in the negative impact of insecurity.
Interestingly, as a result of the war in Ukraine, the number of enterprises experiencing a shortage of materials or appropriate equipment is increasing. But only about 10% of the surveyed managers have such difficulties. While the uncertain economic environment is a problem for over 60% of enterprises. Even before the war, the uncertain environment was a problem for nearly 58% of industrial enterprises. And the war only increases business insecurity.
Compared to the survey from the previous month, the share of managers who forecast sales prices in industry to increase in the next three months increased to 29.4%.
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