KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 — Business sentiments for the first quarter of this year (1Q 2023) improved as challenges faced by firms eased slightly.
The RAM-CTOS Business Confidence Index (RAM-CTOS BCI) revealed that overall BCI for 1Q 2023 rose to 51.4 from 46.2 in the previous quarter.
RAM-CTOS BCI is a comprehensive survey jointly conducted by RAM and CTOS, starting 1Q 2022, on forward-looking business sentiment among small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs).
“An index of 50 delineates positive and negative sentiments. While sentiments across several sub-indices showed improvement, firms remain pessimistic on their profitability outlook (sub-index reading: 40.4) amid elevated cost pressures,” RAM Holdings Bhd said in a statement.
CTOS Digital Bhd group chief executive officer Erick Hamburger said in 1Q 2023, CTOS SME subscribers accessed 30 per cent more business reports, as compared to the same period last year.
“Businesses carrying out additional due diligence on new customers and reevaluating existing customers is a good indicator that they are ramping up operations and productivity, which is in line with the RAM-CTOS BCI business sentiment findings.
“The return to positive sentiment this quarter is a good sign for the economy as SMEs play a crucial role in driving economic growth,” he said.
On the recently tabled revised Budget 2023, the survey said that the budget was generally well-received by respondent firms and may have partly contributed to the better sentiments in this survey.
About 30 per cent of the firms polled thought measures in the revised budget would help their business – a much higher figure compared to the nine per cent in the 4Q 2022 survey, to the same question.
The revised Budget 2023 is the largest on record, with an allocation of RM386.1 billion, which includes measures like a cut in the corporate tax rate and various loan and financing schemes for micro SMEs.
Meanwhile, of the 122 firms polled in 1Q 2023, chiefly small and medium enterprises, almost 80 per cent are grappling with rising costs as their top challenge.
— Bernama
