Pretoria - Business confidence in October fell to 85.9 points after improving in September, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) said on Wednesday.
SACCI's monthly Business Confidence Index (BCI) retreated by 1.9 points to 87.8 in September to 85.9 points in October.
"SACCI is concerned that important contributors to real economic activity, such as retail and manufacturing volumes, recently lost momentum on a month-on-month basis," said the chamber, following on an improvement of 5.8 points from May to September 2010.
When compared to October last year, seven of the 13 sub-indices improved in October compared to the 10 sub-indices that improved year-on-year in September 2010.
SACCI said the strong rand, the continued inflow of excess global short-term funds, volatility in export volumes and demand instability were some of the factors that had an influence on the index.
"The Medium Term Budget Policy Statement brought a degree of clarity on government macro-economic policy. However, given the recent record of service delivery performance by government, business will cautiously await the outcomes of policy and fiscal commitments.
"Improvements in business confidence can only be inspired by credible outcomes that support the business environment on a sustainable basis," said SACCI.
