After a dip in July, Belgium’s business climate indicator rebounded in August, driven by improvements in the manufacturing and construction sectors, according to the National Bank of Belgium’s (NBB) monthly survey.
The overall synthetic indicator rose from -10.8 in July to -8.9 in August. By comparison, it stood at -10.1 in June and -13.5 in May, with a long-term average of -5.6 since 1990.
Manufacturing business leaders are now more positive about their total order books, reversing July’s outlook. For the third consecutive month, they expect employment to continue recovering over the next three months. Additionally, unlike last month, they are now more optimistic about future demand, according to the NBB.
In construction, entrepreneurs report greater confidence in the recent use of equipment and order book trends. However, they remain notably critical of the current order book levels due to seasonal factors. Despite this, they anticipate a slight recovery in demand over the next three months.
In business services, the subdued decline in the confidence indicator is attributed to downward adjustments in activity and market demand forecasts. However, assessments of current activity levels are more favourable.
Conversely, in the trade sector, the business climate worsened. Dismal expectations for demand and employment overshadow the more encouraging forecasts for supplier orders.
The NBB also highlighted that the smoothed overall synthetic indicator, which reflects the underlying economic trend, continues to point upwards.
