Business confidence remained unchanged in April, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) said on Wednesday, stating that its Business Confidence Index (BCI) declined by 0.1 index points to 92.6, after having improved by 0.9 index points in March.

The April BCI was, however, still 0.3 index points above that of April 2013.

Sacci said there were no signs that the national elections affected the business psyche negatively; however, it added that the policy positions to be embraced in the new government term would surely have an impact on future business confidence.

“The business climate and business response are, to a large degree, dependent on the rapid implementation of important facets of the National Development Plan and the adherence to sound public-sector management and accountability. Prompt action by the newly elected government is required if permanent fault lines in the economy are to be averted,” Sacci said.

During April, five of the 13 BCI subindices had negative month-on-month impacts, one being in the financial subindices category and the other four in the physical economic activity category.

Further, three financial subindices were positive in April and two remained unchanged. Two of the physical economic activity subindices were positive month-on-month while one remained unchanged.

Year-on-year, seven of the BCI subindices were in negative territory in April, which was similar to the March result. However, the six BCI subindices that showed positive year-on-year changes were an improvement on the four subindices that showed a positive year-on-year move in March.