K&H SME confidence index: The SME sector is divided – the bigger ones already see the future positively

Based on the second-quarter results of the K&H SME confidence index research, the mood of domestic businesses remained in the negative range by -11 points. However, restrained expectations are only typical of companies with a turnover of less than HUF 300 million, companies with a higher income again see the year ahead positively. Looking at the entire sector, expectations regarding economic policy and customer relations can be seen to improve, which is offset by the expected rise in corporate loan interest rates.

The domestic SME sector has not yet recovered from the crises of recent years: the K&H SME confidence index, which gives an idea of ​​the expectations of Hungarian micro, small and medium-sized enterprises for the next 12 months, is still in the negative range, standing at -11 points. “There is an expectation on the part of businesses. The indicator decreased by 1 point in the second quarter, so neither improvement nor significant deterioration is visible. The mood index has thus been in the negative range for two years. This is not so rare in the life of the research that has been running for 20 years, since in the period between 2006 and 2016 pessimism characterized Hungarian businesses all the time, apart from two quarters”, informed Németh Ildikó Oraveczné, marketing manager of the K&H residential and SME segment, about the latest results.

The stagnation of the index is mostly due to the fact that few of the factors that determine the operation of expectations show a significant shift. While the more favorable perception of the government’s economic policy and the improvement of customer relations had a positive effect, SMEs expect an increase in corporate loan interest rates.