KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has decided to conduct the Business Confidence Survey (BCS) during October, to monitor and research the economic conditions prevalent in the country, said a statement of the SBP issued on Sunday.
SBP regulates the monetary and credit system of Pakistan and fosters its growth in the best national interest, with a view to securing monetary stability and fuller utilisation of the country’s productive resources. Like many other central banks, it weighs up the public and firms perceptions about prevailing and expected economic condition as an important part of its monetary policy formulation process.
For this purpose, SBP is already conducting telephonic surveys of households (Consumer Confidence Survey-CCS) that are selected randomly across the country. These surveys are conducted after every two months and provide information on “what people are thinking” about the economy. The results of CCS are available at SBP website.
Continuing with the spirit of seeking input from its main stakeholders, SBP is now planning to obtain opinion of firms about current and expected business conditions in the country. The Business Confidence Survey (BCS) will be a telephonic survey lasting between 7 to 10 minutes with a senior executive of participating firms requiring them to answer some quick questions. This survey will be conducted all over the country in October 2017 and will be repeated periodically. All the information collected through the survey will be treated as strictly confidential and will not be shared with any other person or entity. Furthermore, it will not be used for any purpose other than research on economic conditions. SBP encourages all firms operating in different areas and sectors to participate in this survey in the best national interest.
