Confidence in the US equipment finance market increased in March for the second consecutive month, according to data from the Equipment and Leasing Finance Foundation.
It saw its March monthly confidence index for the equipment finance industry (MCI-EFI) rise to 60.4, up from the February index of 56.7.
When asked about the outlook for the future, MCI-EFI survey respondent Harry Kaplun, president, specialty finance, Frost Bank, said: “This year will continue to be prosperous as economic indicators are predicting. Business growth is spurred by low interest rates, favorable tax rates and expansion oriented investment.”
When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 20% of respondents said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, up from 10% in February.
Currently, 70% of respondents believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, a decrease from 83.3% the previous month. However, there has been a small increase in those who believe business conditions will worsen, which now stands at 10%, up from 6.7% who believed so the previous month.
Almost a quarter (23.3%) of survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures will increase over the next four months, an increase from 13.3% in February, while 70% believe demand will “remain the same” over that period.
For the second consecutive month, one-third (36.7%) of the leadership evaluate the current US economy as “excellent,” and 63.3% evaluate the current US economy as “fair,” and none evaluate it as “poor”.
Most respondents (80%) continue to indicate they believe the US economy will “stay the same” over the next six months, an increase from 70% the previous month. The proportion expecting improvements has halved, with 6.7% believing that US economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, down from 13.3% in February.
Quentin Cote, president, Mintaka Financial, said: “I'm optimistic that companies in general have ample cash and access to capital to withstand any softening of demand. I'm concerned about the softening housing market and the negative impact it may have on small business sentiment.”