The Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER) has released the Twenty-third monthly enterprise survey “Ukrainian business in wartime” for March 2024.
The goal of the project is to quickly collect information on the current state of the economy at the enterprise level.
The field stage of the Twenty-third wave lasted from March 18 to March 29, 2024. The enterprise managers compared the work results in March 2024 with February, assessed the indicators at the time of the survey (February 2024), and gave forecasts for the next two, three, or six months, depending on the question. In certain issues (where indicated), the work results were compared with the pre-war period (before February 24, 2022). In March 2024, 523 companies were surveyed.
Main results of the Twenty-third monthly enterprise survey:
- Two-year uncertainty is now at the lowest point for two years, with improved near-term production expectations, but short- and medium-term uncertainty has increased.
- The Business Activity Recovery Index and the Industrial Confidence Indicator are rising, while the percentage of businesses operating at full capacity remains unchanged.
- Six-month expectations regarding the business activity of enterprises and the overall economic environment have improved, and production indicators have improved for the second month in a row.
- The export results of enterprises and expectations in the three-month perspective have improved.
- At the same time, difficulties in finding workers with the required qualifications are increasing and the lack of skilled workers ranks second in the ranking of obstacles with the highest value as of May 2022.
- After the attacks on the energy infrastructure, the importance of the obstacle “power outages” has increased significantly, while “unsafe to work” remains without significant changes.
- Assessments of the government’s economic policy remain mostly neutral.
