Confidence in the equipment finance market dropped to 40.1, a decrease from the September index of 50.3, as measured by the Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI). The index, produced by the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, measures prevailing business conditions and future expectations in the equipment finance sector.
“The macroeconomic environment remains challenging,” said respondent Mark Bonanno, president and COO, North Mill Equipment Finance, in a statement. “The U.S. is facing the largest peacetime deficit ever. The likelihood of a government shutdown has increased due to U.S. political upheaval and the pending election cycle. Inflation remains significantly above Fed targets, and the possibility of interest rates going higher or remaining elevated for longer than expected is high, making a recession more likely than not.”
Only 3.7% of the executives responding said that they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, a decrease from 10.3% in September. One in five (22.2%) said business conditions will worsen, an increase from 13.8% in September.
None of the respondents evaluate the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” unchanged from the previous month. Some 7.4% evaluate it as “poor,” down from 10.3% last month.
Just 3.9% of respondents said that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, a decrease from 6.9% in September. Slightly more than a third (38.5%) said that they believe economic conditions in the U.S. will worsen over the next six months, an increase from 31.0% the previous month.
