Business confidence is on a decline in Asia, but there is nothing to worry about: YPO Global Pulse Report

The quarterly report of YPO Global Pulse, which states the outlook of CEOs across 130 countries, stated that the business confidence declined in the Q3 of 2015.

The index stated that this was the fifth consecutive quarterly decline due to drop in oil prices, plummeting stock markets, slowdown in China, rising interest rates, etc.

The YPO Global Pulse Confidence Index revealed that the confidence for the US declined 2.9 points but it was consistent with the GDP expansion of the country.

Coming to Asia, owing to China’s slowdown, the CEO economic confidence dropped 4.7 points from 62 to 57.3 in Q3 of 2015. This is the lowest since 2009.

However, even with slower growth in China, the confidence index for Asia at 57.3 is in line with the global index which declined 2.8 points in October to 58.1. The outlook for Asia can hardly be construed as worrisome.

“As China struggles to transform from an industrial-based economy to a consumer-driven model, confidence in Asia has been adversely affected by the tight inverse relationship between the value of the U.S. dollar and commodity prices,” said Leon Teoh, managing director of Fortson Sdn Bhd and a member of the YPO SEA Dragon chapter.

The ASEAN nations also witnessed a drop in export and confidence in Thailand fell 5.9 points and in Malaysia, it dropped 12 points.

The business confidence in the Middle East and North Africa declined further.

The top oil exporters of the world, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, also saw a drop in CEO confidence.

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