Confidence regarding the outlook for Brazilian industry improved slightly among the country’s business people during March, news agency Brasil reported on Wednesday.
According to a survey by Brazil’s National Confederation of Industry (CNI, in the Portuguese-language acronym), the Industrial Entrepreneur Confidence Index rose during the month by 0.3 points month-on-month to 37.4 points.
CNI said — as quoted by the media outlet — that nonetheless entrepreneurs’ confidence in the business outlook for the country remains weak.
The index operates on a scale from 0 to 100. A number below 50 represents a lack of confidence by entrepreneurs.
The index started to signal improvement in October 2015, and has added 2.4 points since then. But CNI says that it might take more than two years for the index to surpass the 50-point mark.
Brazil’s gross domestic product contracted 3.8 percent in 2015, according to Brazil’s Institute of Geography and Statistics. The nation’s Ministry of Finance said earlier this month it expects the country’s economy to get back to growth in the fourth quarter of this year.
