The Thomson Reuters/ INSEAD Asian Business Sentiment index plunged to 35 in Q2, down from 53. That’s a 11-year low, and the second time the index fell below 50. Around 16% of the 93 companies surveyed said a “deepening recession” was a key risk for the next six months. More than half expects declining staffing and levels and business volumes.
“We ran this survey right at the edge when things were getting really bad,” said Antonio Fatas, economics professor at global business school INSEAD. “We can see this complete pessimism which is spread across sectors and countries in a way that we haven’t seen before.”
