Business confidence worsened in the July-September quarter to a three-year low amid increasing worries about the slowdown in the global economy, according to survey results released Friday by the government Friday.
The business survey index fell to minus 60 in the reporting quarter from minus 41 in the April-June period, its lowest level since hitting minus 61 in the July-September period of 1998, the Cabinet Office said.
"Business confidence has worsened considerably," said Yoshihiko Senoo, the senior Cabinet Office economist, noting that in the previous survey in August, the BSI in July-September had been projected to come to minus 27.