Bulgaria's February business sentiment index rose by 5.7 percentage points from the previous month after declining by 3.2 percentage points in January, the National Statistics Institute (NSI) said.
In February, the industrial sub-index increased by 3.6 percentage points on the month due to the managers' improved assessment of the current business situation, the NSI said in a statement.
The sub-index in construction gained 4.1 percentage points from January, as managers were more optimistic about the sector development in the following six months.
The retail sub-index rose by 11.7 percentage points on the month in February as a result of the improved managers' assessment and expectations regarding the business situation in the sector. The uncertain economic situation remained the main problem for the retail business.
The business climate gauge in the services sector went up by 5.3 percentage points month-on-month in February, due to managers' more optimistic assessments and expectations about the business situation.
Overall, managers said they do not expect a hike in prices over the next three months, except for those in the retail sector, who said they foresee certain increase during the period under review.