Business confidence in Belgium fell in August after three consecutive months of improvement, weakening in manufacturing and construction despite gains in services and trade.
The National Bank of Belgium’s monthly business survey, published on Tuesday, shows that the confidence indicator slipped to -13.2 in August from -11.9 in July.
The indicator, which tracks entrepreneurs’ confidence, had fallen to its lowest level in a year in April, at -14.2. Since then, business leaders had become more optimistic before confidence dipped again this month.
In manufacturing, confidence declined mainly because of a marked deterioration in demand expectations and a more negative assessment of overall order books.
However, manufacturers were more upbeat about current stock levels and said they expected to hire more staff over the next three months.
Confidence also weakened further in construction. According to the central bank, firms in the sector were more pessimistic about future demand and gave a poorer assessment of both their overall order book and current orders.
In business services, the recovery in confidence that began in May continued. The improvement was driven chiefly by a much more favourable view of current activity levels and overall demand.
Even so, expectations for future activity in services fell.
Trade, meanwhile, recorded a renewed rise in optimism, helped by a strong improvement in demand prospects and more favourable employment expectations.
