Brazil's Industry Confidence Indicator rose 3.2 percent in December, reaching 99.5 points, its highest level since July 2018, the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) announced on Friday, reports Xinhua.
The indicator accumulated a rise of 3.9 points in the fourth quarter of the year. The indicator is measured in a way that 100 points reflect a neural point in confidence levels, and any figure above 100 means industrialists are confident about future perspectives.
That means that, despite the recent rise and the best figures in almost a year and a half, the confidence of Brazilian industrialists still remains low. However, the industrial sector is still better than the trade sector, whose confidence indicator was 98.1 points in December, and the tertiary sector, whose confidence index was 96.1 points.
According to FGV economist Renata Mello Franco, this year is ending on a positive note.
"Industry ends this year with good news. The rise in confidence in December reflects mainly an improvement in industrialists' perception about business and the rising optimism about upcoming months," she said.
"In 2020, the continuation of this favorable shift in confidence will depend both on an effective recuperation of the domestic demand and the reduction in uncertainty levels," Franco added.