Business optimism falls amongst Irish SMEs

The report noted that 39% of respondents said they increased prices during the quarter

The positive impact of the removal of pandemic restrictions in January has been outweighed by businesses concerns about a feared slowdown in the economy due to the invasion of Ukraine, high inflation rates and cost-of-living factors. Picture: Sasko Lazarov 

Business optimism for Irish SMEs has declined in the first quarter this year amid concerns regarding Ukraine and high inflation rates.

A new report conducted by peer-to-peer lender Linked Finance, showed that the SME optimism index had fallen to 61.1 in the first quarter of 2022, a decline from 67.9 in the previous quarter.