As more consumers close their wallets due to concerns about an economic slowdown, the outlook for economic sentiment for small business owners has worsened.
The Small Entrepreneurs Market Promotion Agency announced that next month's Small Business Prospect Economic Index recorded 70, below the standard value of 100.
As the reason for forecasting the economic deterioration in August, the most common response was 'reduced consumption due to the economic downturn' (53.2%), followed by the re-spread of COVID-19 and rising prices and raw material costs.