The Mozambican Economic Climate Indicator (ICE), which measures business confidence in the country, “recorded a slight drop in the first quarter of 2021, after signs of recovery in the previous quarter”, the National Statistics Institute (INE) announced today.
The ICE indicator in the first quarter of 2021 was “below average”, according to the latest bulletin on Indicators of Confidence and Economic Climate consulted today by Lusa, reflecting the impact of Covid-19 on the Mozambican economy.
The ICE stood at 86.7 points in the first quarter of 2021, compared to 86.9 in the first quarter of 2020.
“In sectoral terms, the unfavourable economic situation in the period under review was due to the negative appreciation of the indicator in the sectors of accommodation, restaurants and similar transport and industrial production, thus outweighing the construction and commerce sectors, as well as other non-financial services, which registered a positive evaluation in the period under analysis,” the INE bulletin reads.
The ICE forms part of the bulletin on Indicators of Confidence and Economic Climate, a monthly publication compiled on the basis of a survey of non-financial sector companies carried out by the INE.
“The study expresses the opinion of economic agents about the evolution and perspective of their activity, particularly with regard to employment, demand, orders, prices, production, sales and activity limitations,” the Mozambican statistical authority explains.
Mozambique had by Monday registered an accumulated total of 815 Covid-19 deaths among 70,000 confirmed cases, of whom 38 remain hospitalised and 96% are said to have recovered.
