According to the research carried out by Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego conducted for the purpose of creating the Monthly Index of the Economic Climate (MIK), in the last two years, enterprises in Poland have not been very active in investing. This is a result of the restrictions introduced for business due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty about economic conditions following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Since February 2021, the share of companies investing in tangible and/or intangible assets has not exceeded 50%.

Most enterprises did not invest because they did not need it. Nevertheless, the lack of financial opportunities to invest was declared by between 13% to 27% of companies, mostly at the beginning of 2021 and during the periods of increasing COVID-19 cases and the lockdowns.

Interestingly, the outbreak of the war in Ukraine has not had a significant impact on companies’ investment decisions so far, although in March and April this year fewer enterprises (approximately 40%) than in January (45%) declared to be ready for investment expenditure.

The willingness to invest is related to the size and industry in which the companies operate. Medium and large enterprises invest most often, while micro-enterprises are the least active. In 2022, due to the uncertainty of the future economic conditions, even in the group of large companies being more resistant to crises, the share of firms declaring new capital expenditure decreased from 68% in January to 53% in April this year.

In 2022, trade companies were the least active investments, which also significantly reduced their investments after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine (from 42% in February to 33% in March and 36% in April).

In the production and construction industries the situation was relatively stable from the beginning of the year – the share of investing companies oscillated around 38-45%. The largest fluctuations were recorded in services; at the beginning of the year, investments were carried out by 53% of companies, and in April only by 35%.

In the summary of the report, it is said that war and high inflation are currently two factors that can discourage investment. As a result, the high self-assessment of the financial liquidity of companies is not matched by the increase in investment activity, despite the continued favourable assessments of the conditions of access to external financing.

Adrian Andrzejewski order