Netherlands: Business confidence falls but remains in positive territory in January
Business confidence came in at 9.0 in January, down from December’s 10.2. January’s result marked the worst performance since May 2021. As such, the index remained entrenched above the 0-threshold, indicating that businesses were optimistic.
The downtick was driven by less optimism regarding expected activity and orders. Attitudes towards stocks of finished goods turned less negative, however.
Analysts at the EIU added:
“Capacity utilisation in manufacturing has picked up to 84% (above the pre-crisis level), which suggests that private-sector investment activity will […] remain strong.”