An index of confidence in the equipment finance market is 76.1, an all-time high, reports the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation. Its April 2021 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI) was up from the March index of 67.7.
“We are starting to see pent-up demand for goods and services leading to expanded capital budgets for equipment to produce it and transportation to deliver it,” said MCI-EFI survey respondent Aylin Cankardes, president of Rockwell Financial Group, in a prepared statement. “With favorable interest rates, businesses are increasing spending again to stay responsive in a rapidly evolving environment.”
When asked to assess business conditions, 73.3 percent of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, up from 50 percent in March. About one-quarter said they believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, down from 46.4 percent the previous month.
Seven in 10 respondents said they believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, up from 42.9 percent in March. 30 percent believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month time period, a decrease from 53.6 percent the previous month.
Some 13.3 percent of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” an increase from 3.6 percent the previous month. Eight in 10 evaluate the current U.S. economy as “fair,” up from 78.6 percent in March, and 6.7 percent evaluate it as “poor,” down from 17.9 percent last month.
Almost three-fourths said they believe that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, an increase from 60.7 percent in March, while 23.3 percent indicated they believe the U.S. economy will “stay the same” over the next six months, a decrease from 32.1 percent last month.
Source: Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation
