Though some Ghanaian business complain and predict hard times for the country, business confidence among corporate leaders in the country in the third quarter of 2015 continued to rise from that of the second quarter.
[contextly_sidebar id=”pbCKTAAg35wajcAz6VDuTA7lPRgRGUEi”] This is according to the 3rd quarter business barometer meter from the Association of Ghana industries (AGI).
The Business Barometer calculates the current business mood and expectations for the future.
According to the business barometer report, business confidence increased from the 87.90 points recorded in the 2nd quarter to 102.30 points in the 3rd quarter of 2015.
Business confidence for the third quarter of 2015 inched up by 14.40 bases point in the latest Business Barometer report by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI).
The AGI is optimistic business confidence can be better than the 102.30 bases points.
The 3rd quarter business barometer meter revealed 39% of captains of industry interviewed believed the business environment will remain the same while 40% said it has improved.
However about 60% expect business performance to improve in the fourth quarter of 2015 while 7% believed business performance will worsen.
President of AGI, James Asare Agyei speaking to Citi Business News said this is the first time in almost a year and half that the confidence level of business has gone above the 100 index base points.
The AGI this time round also sought to find out from industry what they know about the recently single window system to make importation easy.
53% of captains of industry interviewed said they were not aware of the single window system; however 47% said they were aware of the policy and system at our ports.
On usage of the single window system only 32% of those interviewed said they had used the single system while 68% said they were yet to use it.
Meanwhile 34% of captains of industry said the single window system was not convenient as 66% said it was very convenient and has simplified the process of importation at our ports.
On employment, majority of industry captains are not optimistic of expanding their workforce. 60% indicate they will not employ, 27% said they will increase their labour force, while about 13% also indicated they will cut down on labour if the power situation does not change.
In the second quarter, exchange rate volatility and depreciation of the cedi ranked number 1, challenge by captains of industry followed by inadequate power supply and multiplicity of taxes.
But in the third quarter exchange rate volatility ranked first followed by inadequate power supply and multiplicity of taxes.
Access to credit followed ranked the 4th biggest challenge to businesses in Ghana while and Cost of credit was rated the 5th biggest challenge facing industry.
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By: Norvan Acquah-Hayford/citifmonline.com/Ghana