Business Confidence in Italy

It is a confidence index that represents the perception of entrepreneurs about the current situation and prospects of the economy, in relation to a number of concepts as they are the level of orders, inventory ... etc. The survey also includes information about the use of plant capacity, capacity productiva..etc.

It is a survey based on 18 questions about different components, usually with three possible answers: more stable or less. Thus, there is information on the current situation, the trend in the short term (3-4meses), and the prospects for the evolution of the economy in general. The index is the difference between favorable and unfavorable responses.

The importance of this fact is given by its ability to anticipate the behavior of employers, and therefore investment levels, spending ... etc. Especially important are the manufacturing data, because they show the expectations and perceptions of entrepreneurs about economic conditions.

Importantly, until the publication of February 27, 2002, this survey was referring to the previous month when it was published, ie, while those published by the Eurostat and the French INSEE had only days late, the Italian data It was published a month later. The ISAE itself stressed the importance of taking into account this time when comparisons difference. From that date the publication is made at the end of the month to which it refers, correcting that time lag.