"Companies don’t expect turnover to return to normal before October”
Belgian companies’ turnover is still suffering greatly as a result of the corona crisis. A new survey of firms in Belgium by the Economic Risk Management Group (ERMG) reveals that companies here don’t expect their turnover figures to return to pre-corona levels for some months yet. Last week turnover was still down 26% on what it had been before the onset of the crisis.
Seven out of eight companies don’t expect their turnover to return to where it was prior to mid-March before the end of the third quarter (July to September). Six out of ten companies expect that they will have to shed jobs.
The Economic Risk Management group survey was compiled from data gained from questionnaires sent out to various industry federations and groups that represent small businesses and the self-employed. The survey was carried out as part of an initiative that is coordinated by the Belgian Enterprise Federation VBO and the National Bank of Belgium.
The aim is to provide a week by week view of what the impact of the corona crisis is on economic activity in Belgium and to provide a financial health check on our country’s businesses.