Business confidence hits record high

THE LATEST business confidence index from the Rand Merchant Bank/Bureau for Economic Research has recorded its highest level in more than 15 years. This, added the report, indicated a “bullish” attitude amongst business around the country. It’s difficult to say whether this sentiment has extended to the freight industry - indeed, whether the RMB/BER index reflects a true, overall national feeling amongst business. This, said Sacob’s Richard Downing, because the index is based on a selected survey of business people and might not provide a comprehensive measure for all business and industry. He backed this with Sacob’s own business confidence index (BCI) which is a statistically-based measurement and which actually declined from 122.3 January to 120.8 February, after a historical high of 122.4 in December 2003.