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ISLAMABAD, May 22 (APP):The Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) on Thursday unveiled the findings of its Business Confidence Index (BCI) Survey – Wave 27, reflecting a significant improvement in business sentiment across Pakistan.
The survey, conducted in March-April 2025, shows an increase in overall confidence from -5% to +11%, marking a 16-percentage point surge compared to the previous wave (October-November 2024).
The announcement followed a meeting between OICCI leadership and Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, during which the minister lauded the positive trend, calling it a reflection of Pakistan’s stabilizing economy.
The upward shift in business sentiment has been attributed to improving macroeconomic indicators, falling inflation, and optimistic projections for the next six months.
This sharp recovery in the Business Confidence in the latest Wave 27 reflects the resilience of Pakistan’s business sector and its readiness to seize emerging growth opportunities.
It is heartening to see positive momentum across key sectors, which reflects improved sentiment and growing trust in the country’s economic
direction.
The BCI Wave 27 survey revealed increased optimism for the next six months, with 45 percent of the respondents expressing positive expectations.
Key contributors to this positive outlook include economic growth, improved government policies, investment climate, and security situation.
Despite the positive trend, 53 percent of the survey respondents reported a negative outlook on business conditions over the past six months, which is a substantial improvement from 66 percent negative sentiments in Wave 26.
The key concerns indicated in the survey related to political stability, Rupee FX parity, Energy, and trade policies.
The BCI of foreign investors, OICCI members randomly selected for the survey, showed a remarkable increase from positive 6 percent to 17 percent.
This improvement is primarily attributed to better global business climate, an improved industry environment in Pakistan over the past six months, and expectations of increased capital investment in the coming six months.
Addressing a press conference, Abdul Aleem, Chief Executive/Secretary General OICCI, further highlighted, “The latest BCI Wave 27 results were better than anticipated, with positive expectations reflected across all major sectors. Employment prospects, expansion plans, and investment expectations demonstrated notable gains, particularly in the Manufacturing and Retail sectors.
Despite notable improvement on the overall BCI”,Abdul Aleem added, “the
new investment plans overall showed an improvement of 19 percent, but remained negative, which is an area of concern and needs to be addressed to further accelerate economic growth, energize Large Scale Manufacturing, trade and export.”
Looking ahead, the BCI Wave 27 respondents highlighted inflation, taxation, inconsistent government policies, and rupee devaluation as the key threats in order of priority.
The top two concerns remain unchanged from the previous wave, indicating ongoing challenges in these areas.
The OICCI BCI survey is conducted twice a year and reflects the views of major business stakeholders representing nearly 80 percent of Pakistan’s GDP. The survey covers responses from various sectors, including Manufacturing, Services, and Retail/Wholesale, and assesses perceptions at regional, national, and business entity levels.
The survey is conducted face to face throughout the major business centers of the country including Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi /Islamabad, Peshawar, Faisalabad etc.