Business in January worsened its performance assessments – NBU.

The index of business activity expectations remained stable

According to the National Bank, in January 2025, the index of business activity expectations (IBAE) remained at last year's level - 41.0.

The positive impact on the IBAE was influenced by stable consumer demand and significant volumes of international financial assistance. However, many factors hindered the development of business activity, such as a difficult security situation, lack of investments, rising production costs, and others.

'Industrial enterprises have limitedly assessed their results due to the destruction of production capacities and other problems. The alignment of expectations regarding the volumes of produced goods, new orders, and the volume of unfinished production continued,' reported the National Bank.

Trade companies also anticipated a decrease in turnover and other indicators, but improved assessments of goods for sale stocks. Enterprises in the service sector and construction also reduced their assessments due to seasonal factors and rising production costs.

A difficult situation is expected in the labor market, and companies plan to reduce the number of employees, especially in construction.