The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (the Foundation) releases the January 2022 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI). The index reports a qualitative assessment of both the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future as reported by key executives from the $900 billion equipment finance sector. Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 63.9, unchanged from the December index.
Survey respondent Jim DeFrank, EVP and chief operating officer, Isuzu Finance of America, Inc., says, “It’s all about supply chain right now. There is demand for equipment, but manufactures are having a hard time satisfying the demand due to parts shortages, workforce issues, etc. Once the supply can match demand, we will see a nice increase in finance and leasing volumes. Hopefully, by the second half of 2022.”
When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 25.9% of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, a decrease from 34.6% in December; 70.4% believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, up from 61.5% the previous month. And 3.7% believe business conditions will worsen, unchanged from December.
When asked, 39.3% of the executives report they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, down from 42.3% in December, and 60.7% expect no change in headcount over the next four months, an increase from 57.7% last month. None expect to hire fewer employees, unchanged from December.
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