KARACHI: Entrepreneurs are getting increasingly pessimistic about the conditions of their businesses owing to the country’s political and economic situation, according to a Gallup Pakistan survey conducted in the ongoing quarter of 2022.

The Gallup Business Confidence Index showed 65 per cent of business owners believe their businesses are facing bad conditions.

Industrial machines businesses are doing the best out of all types of businesses, with 75pc of them believing that conditions are good. Cloth and garment shops are experiencing the worst level of confidence, with 81pc of them saying business conditions are bad.

Findings of the survey show the Net Future Business Confidence score has worsened by 50pc since the beginning of 2022 and is now at -10pc.

Gallup survey says inflation, loadshedding worrying business community

Compared to earlier this year, the number of businesses saying the country is headed in the wrong direction has gone up by 32pc. Less than 15pc of businesses in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa believe that the country is headed in the right direction.

Similar to the findings of the survey conducted in the first quarter of 2022, the latest poll shows inflation remains the “most-cited” problem that businesses would like the government to solve by the end of this year.

As many as 72pc of the businesses surveyed reported experiencing loadshedding every day. A considerable increase in the number of businesses experiencing loadshedding was witnessed in the fourth quarter. About 19pc of the businesses that reported facing loadshedding within a day experienced it for two hours, the survey showed.

As many as 81pc of the businesses said they do not believe the court system is fair, impartial and uncorrupted versus 7pc in the first quarter of 2022. More businesses from Balochistan disagree with the idea that the court system is fair, impartial and uncorrupted than any other province, survey results showed.

One-quarter of the businesses surveyed reported their establishment was visited by tax officials, down 12pc from the previous survey.

A sample of more than 700 business owners and managers across Pakistan were asked how well their businesses were doing. After Covid-19 peaked, businesses started to express greater confidence. But this confidence plummeted between the beginning and the end of 2022.

“This sudden change, and a 63pc fall in the Current Business Situation score, may be due to the continuous political instability over the year,” it said.

The survey asked business owners which problems were affecting their businesses considerably. Besides inflation, “customer shortage” was a problem that 8pc of them faced. High taxes were also perceived as a problem by 4pc of businesses.

“Gallup Business Confidence Report for the fourth quarter of 2022 paints a bleak picture. The index values are the worst since Gallup started the project in 2019, which includes Covid-19 times,” said Bilal Ijaz Gilani, executive director of the Gallup Pakistan and chief architect of the Gallup Pakistan Business Confidence Index.

“The report comes after Pakistan faced the worst floods in decades. The business community awaits strong and decisive steps by the government,” he added.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2022