Business confidence grew in the last quarter of 2017, to its second highest ever level.

This was revealed by pollster Don Anderson at this morning’s (Jan 16) release of the 4th quarter’s business and consumer confidence indices.

The resurgence in business confidence followed a marginal fall in the first 3 quarters of last year.

Over one hundred businesses across the country were surveyed on issues including current business conditions, expectations regarding change in economy and the company’s profitability.

Mr. Anderson says the companies are very optimistic about what’s happening in their organisations and the economy and they expect profitability to be very strong

According to him the firms say they are confident in the policies of the government

However, a major concern remains the country’s crime situation.

More than 60 murders have been committed since the start of the year.

Meanwhile, consumer confidence fell for the fourth quarter of last year.

Researcher Don Anderson says all the factors used to measure consumer confidence fell during the period.

He adds that generally business and consumer confidence tend to move in the same direction.

However, over the last quarter of 2017, business confidence went up while consumer confidence fell.

Some 600 households islandwide were surveyed and Mr. Anderson says consumers believe the economy will continue to grow.

However, he adds that job prospects were a concern.