The sentiment in February declined due to businesses’ concerns over the slowdown of domestic and external demand, the central bank said. Moreover, the respondents in food and beverage sector affected by the shortage of agricultural raw materials from drought expressed negative confidence in production cost in this month.

However, over the next three months, most respondents expected business conditions to improve, indicating confidence in the pace of economic recovery, the central bank said.

Most respondents expected that both inflation and production cost over the next 12 months would

decline from the previous month, given continued lower energy cost.

Current and expected liquidity sentiment indices remained below 50, attributable to weak confidence on sales and concerns on higher interest.