Small business displayed surging levels of year-on-year business confidence in the third quarter of 2022 despite the rising interest rates and inflation-driven price increases that hit the pockets of everyone.
According to the index, SME confidence that their businesses will grow in the next 12 months increased drastically from just 33% in the third quarter of 2021 to 77% in the third quarter of 2022, a staggering increase of 44 percentage points. The index also showed a marginal quarter-on-quarter change in business confidence, which showed an increase on a number of fronts, with the biggest quarterly increases observed in the confidence that SME owners have that their business will grow in the next 12 months at a level now 7 percentage points higher than the previous quarter.
She points out that the November 2022 crime statistics released by the ministry of police showed an increase of 19.9 % in commercial crimes.