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European privately owned firms still losing confidence in economic environment

The business confidence of European privately owned companies has continued to fall in the latest quarter, according to the latest 3i European barometer index. Five out of the six surveyed regions demonstrated increasing economic pessimism with the solitary exception of a marginal upturn in Germany.

The survey shows the lowest levels of optimism about the economic climate throughout Europe since the barometer was launched in 1998. The most significant fall-offs in confidence occurred in Spain and France, while Nordic countries remained the most upbeat.

UK economic confidence dropped for the fourth consecutive quarter and varied markedly between regions. The index rose slightly in the South but decreased sharply in the North and the Midlands.

The survey's findings may have been unduly coloured by international tensions in the Middle East, as it was conducted while military action in Iraq was under way. But the overriding pessimism evident in the report's findings is hard to ignore.

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