Business confidence index stronger

Business confidence in Mozambique rose slightly in the second quarter of 1999, media reports said on Tuesday. News reports quoted the latest findings of the international firm KPMG, which publishes a quarterly Mozambique business confidence index. The overall business confidence index was 95 in the first quarter of 1999, and 95.4 in the second quarter, using a benchmark of 100 points. Forty percent of the companies surveyed were foreign-owned, 20 percent jointly owned, while the remaining 40 percent belonged to Mozambicans. The most positive economic sectors, in terms of business confidence, were those of communications, construction, energy and natural resources, and tourism. The least positive were manufacturing, agriculture, and the wholesale and retail trade. The confidence index was affected positively by such factors as investment incentives, speedy government decisions, the global economic situation, increased regional integration, and the availability of skilled employees. But factors that had a negative impact on the index included land administration the exchange rate, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, business environment, stability and state interference in private business.