Business climate indices inch northward in February, still remain fairly low

All three business climate indices published by the Central Statistical Office (GUS) for manufacturing, construction and retail improved in February, but businesses are hardly ecstatic about future prospects. The manufacturing index improved by some four points to +1, meaning that there were more businesses which said their situation improved compared to January, than those who said the opposite. However, the other two indices remained negative, construction at minus 6 and retail at minus 20. This means that construction and retail firms polled believe that business is still headed downward, but not as fast as it did earlier. (Rzeczpospolita, p.B2, Reuters) T.J.