Executive President of the Federation of Industry and Commerce Guo Bingxun said: "The economic outlook has weakened, and there are more and more uncertainties in the operating environment in which enterprises are located. In the case of weak business sentiment, enterprises are satisfied with the 2025 fiscal year budget. Many companies believe that the budget assists in solving some cost issues and also makes Singapore a better place to carry out new businesses or develop new ideas."

In this survey, the Federation of Industry and Commerce released the Business Sentiment Index for the first time, with an overall 56.5, reflecting that companies are generally cautious due to uncertainty in the global economy. The index range is zero to 100, exceeding 60 means optimistic mood, 40 to 59 means neutral, and below 40 means negative emotions.

The survey pointed out that the hotel, catering and accommodation industries, health and social services industries, and retail industries are particularly pessimistic about the economic outlook in the next 12 months.

Compared with the fourth quarter of last year, the ratio of local businesses with significantly worse business outlook in the first quarter of this year has nearly doubled, from 22% to 40%.

The interviewed companies were also most worried about the increase in operating costs. The business sentiment index reflecting this factor was 68, indicating that companies expect cost pressure to rise in the next six months.

The survey was conducted from March 27 to April 21, with a total of 526 enterprises participating, with SMEs accounting for 83%.

Among them, the business sentiment index of the hotel, catering and accommodation industries is the lowest among all industries (52.2). The respondents in this industry have the lowest expectations for revenue, profits, business expansion and capital investment plans, and their confidence in business growth is also the most pessimistic.

The National Business Survey of Singapore Federation of Industry and Commerce (SBF) released on Wednesday (May 28) shows that small and medium-sized enterprises and large enterprises are pessimistic about the economic outlook.

However, the vast majority of enterprises (92%) expressed satisfaction or neutrality with the 2025 Budget, with large enterprises (96%) expressing satisfaction or neutrality, slightly higher than SMEs (92%).

Small and medium-sized enterprises whose economic situation is expected to deteriorate will account for 41% from 23% to 41%, while the proportion of large enterprises will increase from 18% to 38%.