Pakistan’s Business Confidence Index (BCI) decreased by 1.2 points, reaching 55.5 in July 2025, according to the latest results of the Business Confidence Survey (BCS), conducted by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in collaboration with the Institute of Business Administration (IBA).
The downturn was largely driven by the Industry sector, which saw a decline of 3.5 points in its Business Confidence Index, dropping to 54.2. Meanwhile, the Services sector saw a slight dip, with its BCI decreasing by just 0.5 points, settling at 55.9.
The survey results highlighted that the BCI is made up of two sub-indices: the Current Business Confidence Index (CBCI) and the Expected Business Confidence Index (EBCI).
The CBCI, which reflects business sentiment for the month, saw a decline of 2.2 points, falling to 53.6 in July 2025. However, there was better sentiment in both the industry and services sectors, helping to cushion the overall fall.
The EBCI, which measures expectations for the next six months, also saw a slight decline, dropping by 0.4 points to 57.3.
In terms of inflation expectations, businesses anticipated lower inflation, with the Inflation Expectations (IE) index decreasing by 1.2 points to 68.6. The Services sector showed a slight increase of 0.7 points to 67.9 in its inflation outlook.
The survey also revealed that the Expected Employment Index declined by 0.4 points to 55.2, while the Average Current Capacity Utilization (ACCU) in the manufacturing sector decreased by 1.5 points to 66.0%.
