The monthly economic situation index of the Polish Economic Institute and Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (MIK) amounted to 97.1 points in April, which means an increase of 6.8 points compared to March. In the opinion of PIE analysts, however, this reading is still indicative of an unfavorable economic situation.

As we read, the MIK reading remains below the neutral level. The relatively best situation is currently in production and trade, and the most difficult – in the service sector. PIE emphasizes, however, that the fears of companies reported at the beginning of the pandemic mostly did not come true – a year ago as many as 30 percent of enterprises planned layoffs, but today only 6 percent are considering them. 

Detailed data of PIE and BGK show that in April MIK assumes values ​​above the neutral level (100 points) in three areas: employment (108.1 points), wages and salaries (104.6 points), and financial liquidity (115.9 points). The levels of bad economic conditions are observed in the remaining components of the index, i.e. in the value of sales (89.2 points), the number of new orders (97.3 points), production capacity (95.6 points), and investments (68, 6 points).

In April, production and trade reached the highest and above the neutral level of MIK readings – 108.3 and 103.9 points, respectively. A significant downturn was recorded in services, where the current level of MIK is 90.8 points, lower by 11.1 points compared to March.

The most difficult situation is among micro and small entrepreneurs. In micro-companies, however, the indicator increased by 15.9 points and now stands at 91.3 points, which is still a negative result, but close to the neutral level. The greatest improvement in the economic situation was recorded in medium-sized companies, among which almost every third (32 percent) recorded an increase in the value of sales, and 24 percent recorded an increase in the number of orders.

(PAP)