Bulgaria’s business climate climate indicator has advanced by 1.3 percentage points in August  compared to July, mainly due to improved managers’ opinions in industry and retail trade, the country’s statistical office announced on Friday.

The business climate indicator in industry has risen by 2.1 percentage points in comparison with July due to the more favourable assessments by entrepreneurs in the sector as well as improved expectations about the business position of their companies, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a monthly report.

It should be noted that weaknesses in economic legislation have moved one rung higher to the second position among the factors constraining the improvement of the business climate in industry, ahead of insufficient domestic demand. The latter has been typically cited as the second biggest obstacle to doing business in industry after the nuncertain economic environment, the NSI said.

The business climate indicator in retail trade has improved by 3.0 percentage points compared to July due to the more optimistic assessments of retailers about the current  business position of their enterprises. The managers’ assessments of the volume of sales over the last three months have slightly improved and their expectations for the next three months remain favourable.

The business climate indicator in construction industry has remained flat in August compared to the previous month. The business climate in the services sector has also been little changed in August.

Entrepreneurs in both construction and services are citing the uncertain economic environment and competition in these sectors as the two strongest challenges facing their companies in August.