Belarus’s Ministry of Economy has published the results of its September business survey of the industrial sector.
After a two-month break, the ministry’s press service decided to disclose data on production capacity utilisation.
“The average level of production capacity utilisation across the industrial sector stands at 69%. The average period of order coverage remained at 2.9 months,” the statement said.
It should be noted that the average period of order coverage was unchanged from August.
In other respects, survey respondents continued to express optimism.
Some 68% of company executives who took part in the survey reported an increase or no change in output, while 73% of respondents reported rising or stable demand.
Around 35% of participants noted a trend towards reducing inventories.
Some 73% reported that staffing levels at their companies remained unchanged, while 13% reported an increase.
Around 20% of executives plan to increase investment activity over the next three months, while 70% expect it to remain at its current level.
“In the short term, almost half of senior executives expect current demand levels to remain unchanged, while a third of respondents forecast an increase. Some 46% of respondents plan to maintain industrial output, 36% of company executives expect production to increase, and 34% anticipate higher profits,” the ministry concluded.