KARACHI: Entrepreneurs are increasingly pessimistic about their business conditions due to the political and economic situation in Pakistan, according to a Gallup Pakistan survey conducted in the ongoing quarter of 2022.
Gallup’s Business Confidence Index found that 65 percent of business owners believe their businesses are facing bad conditions in Pakistan.
Industrial machinery businesses perform best of all business types, with 75 percent believing conditions are good. Clothing and apparel stores are experiencing the worst levels of confidence, with 81 percent saying business conditions are poor.
The survey findings show that the Net Future Business Confidence score has deteriorated by 50 percent since the start of 2022 and is now at -10 percent.
Compared to the beginning of this year, the number of businesses that say the country is going in the wrong direction has increased by 32 percent. Less than 15 percent of businesses in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa believe the country is moving in the right direction.
Similar to the results of the survey conducted in the first quarter of 2022, the latest survey shows that inflation remains the “most cited” issue that businesses would like to solve by the end of this year.
Gallup survey says inflation, loadshedding worrying business community
As many as 72 percent of businesses surveyed said they struggle with workloads every day. In the fourth quarter, there was a significant increase in the number of businesses experiencing stress. The survey found that about 19 percent of businesses that reported experiencing congestion in one day experienced it for two hours.
As many as 81 percent of businesses said they do not believe the justice system is fair, impartial, and uncorrupt, up from 7 percent in the first quarter of 2022. More Balochistan businesses disagree with the idea that the justice system is fair, impartial, and uncorrupt. other provinces, the survey results showed.
A quarter of businesses surveyed said that their premises had been visited by tax officials, which is 12 percent less than in the previous survey.
A sample of over 700 business owners and managers from across Pakistan were asked how well their businesses were doing. After Covid-19 peaked, businesses began to express more confidence. However, this confidence declined between the beginning and end of 2022.
“This sudden change and the 63 percent drop in the current business situation score may be due to continued political instability throughout the year,” the company said.
The survey asked business owners which issues significantly affect their business. In addition to inflation, “lack of customers” was a problem for 8 percent of them. High taxes were also perceived as a problem by 4 percent of businesses.
“The Gallup Business Confidence Report for the fourth quarter of 2022 paints a grim picture. The index readings are the worst since the start of the Gallup project in 2019, which includes Covid-19 times,” said Bilal Ijaz Gilani, Managing Director of Gallup Pakistan and Chief Architect of the Gallup Pakistan Business Confidence Index.
“The news comes after Pakistan faced its worst floods in decades. The business sector expects vigorous and decisive steps from the government,” he added.