BRASILIA, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's National Confederation of Industry (CNI) said Tuesday the May's nationwide truck drivers'strike, and subsequent government measures, have deflated business confidence.
The Industrial Business Confidence Index (ICEI) score fell in June, down 5.9 points from May. The index currently stands at 49.6 points, signalling the steepest monthly drop since the index began in 2010.
The truck drivers' strike began on May 21 and continued for 11 days.
The strike was ended after an agreement was reached between the truck drivers and the government, who compromised over a reduction in the price of diesel fuel and established a plan of minimum prices for freight carriers. The agreement was heavily criticized by the business community.
With this month's fall, the ICEI stayed below the 50 points line, signalling a serious lack of business confidence.
Since January 2017, the index had been above 50 points, which was a positive indicator.
"The fall in confidence is due to the worsening business feeling surrounding the current economic situation and expectations for the coming six months," the report stated.
Large and medium sized employers saw a steeper drop (6.2 points) than their smaller counterparts, with only the very biggest businesses maintaining their optimism.
All industrial sectors, including construction, mining and manufacturing, suffered a fall in confidence.
The construction industry saw a 5.6 point drop to 48.2 points, while the manufacturing industry fell furthest, down 6.1 points to 49.7.
Business confidence fell across the entire country, including the south and southeast, where the ICEI score stayed below 50 points.
While Brazil's northern region showed the highest confidence score at 52.2 points, it also endured the biggest index drop, losing 7.4 points.
The survey ran from June 4 - 14 and included 2,779 businesses, made of 1,115 small, 1,039 medium and 625 large businesses.
