The Central Bank of Aruba (CBA) concluded its Business Perception Survey (BPS) for the second quarter of 2023. The BPS assesses the economic sentiments of local businesses.
In the second quarter of 2023, the Business Perception Index (BPI), comprising the current and short-term economic conditions, inched up from 106.0 to 106.6. This outcome resulted from an increase in both the short-term economic conditions and the current economic conditions index (See Chart 1)[1].
[1] The index can vary between 90 and 110. Between 90 and 100 indicates a situation of pessimism. An index of exactly 100 indicates that businesses are neither pessimistic nor optimistic but are neutral with regard to their thoughts about economic developments in Aruba. Between 100 and 110 indicates a situation of optimism in business sentiments.
The short-term future economic condition index strengthened by 0.9 index points to 106.0, up from 105.1 in the first quarter of 2023. The current economic condition index expanded to 107.0 in the second quarter of 2023 (See Chart 2).
Half of respondents expected a flat economic growth in the next 12 months. This is an increase of 11.8 percentage points compared to previous quarter. The percentage of respondents anticipating positive economic growth in the next 12 months decreased by 5.3 percentage points to 38.3 percent.
The complete report of the Business Perception Survey is available on the website of the CBA www.cbaruba.org
