Small businesses upbeat about the future, survey shows

Despite a small dip in their activities in the first half of the year, Greek small and medium-sized businesses are confident that the second half will be better.

The biannual economic climate survey by the Small Enterprises Institute of the Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants (GSEVEE), shows that 31 percent of the surveyed businesses expect a better half-year ahead (up from 26.4 percent in January 2018 and 17.5 percent in July 2018), 38.5 percent no change (38.2 percent in January and 36.8 percent in July 2018) and just 16.6 percent expect a turn for the worse (down from 29.3 percent in January and 37.6 percent in July 2018).

The relatively bigger firms are the most upbeat, and manufacturers more positive than merchants and services firms. A record high 15.4 percent of the enterprises declare they will make investments in the short term.