According to the opinions expressed in the October 2016 Investment Survey (with an inquiring period between the 1st October 2016 and the 18th January 2017), the entrepreneurial investment is expected to present a nominal increase of 3.8% in 2017. The same survey also points to an increase in investment of 6.5% in 2016, which represents a slight upward revision comparing with the perspectives revealed in the previous survey (change rate of 6.0%) and a more significant revision comparing with the first estimate for 2016 obtained in the October 2015 survey (3.1%).
Among the investment objectives the relative weight of the replacement investment, the extension of the production capacity investment and the investment for other purposes is expected to decrease between 2016 and 2017, while the streamline production investment relative weight is predicted to increase. Nevertheless, the extension of the production capacity remained the most mentioned objective of investment in both years.
Regarding the main limitative factor for business investment identified in the survey, the deterioration of the sales perspectives was the most mentioned in both years, followed, in 2016, by the lack of self-funding capacity and, in 2017, by the uncertainty about the investment profitability. Between 2016 and 2017 the relative weights of the deterioration of the sales perspectives and the difficulty obtaining bank loans are expected to increase while the relative weight of the lack of self-funding capacity will decrease.