The RMB/BER Business Confidence Index (BCI) plunged from 18 points to just five points in the second quarter of the year as COVID-19 wreaks havoc with the already limping economy.
The second quarter BCI reading was the lowest level ever recorded since the BER first conducted its business sentiment survey in 1975.
RMB/BER said the study conducted online between 13 May and 1 June and canvassed the views of 1800 executives spread across building, manufacturing, domestic trade, retail, wholesale and motor trade.
Most of business activity in the second quarter has been hampered by lockdown restrictions, which saw the trade of non-essential goods severely restrained.
Retail confidence dropped from 18 points to 11 points, while motor trade confidence fell from 16 points in the first quarter to two index points in the second quarter.
Manufacturing confidence dropped from 17 to points – surpassing the previous record low of 14 points recorded in 1998 and wholesale sentiment plunged from 25 to four index points.
Ettienne le Roux, chief economist of RMB, said until now, the lowest BCI on record was the 12 index points registered during the third quarter of 1985.
“COVID-19 has drastically changed the already-weak economic landscape and perhaps, in some cases, permanently. We are likely only beginning to fully appreciate the complexity of the economic impacts of this pandemic,” said le Roux.
