03/03/2009 15h05
Car sector assures improvement of industrial confidence
Folha de S. Paulo - 03/03/2009
The car sector was the main responsible for the improvement of the performance of the ICI (Industrial Confidence Index), which increased 1.3% in February, going from 75.3 points, in February, to 76.3 points. According to the coordinator of the Economic Analysis and Research Center of the FGV (Getúlio Vargas Foundation), Aloísio Campelo Junior, the sector of transport materials - which includes makers and car parts - helped increase the index by 142.4%. One of the sub-indexes that form the ICI, the level of stocks reveals the turn in the direction of the car sector. For the first time since July 2008, the amount of transport material companies that said their stocks was not enough to meet the demand left zero - 3.9% informed they are in such situation in February. In relation to those who report they have stocks in excess fell down from 32.5% in January to 8% last month. "These figures show the change in the IPI (Manufacturing Tax) worked out", said Campelo referring to the temporary reduction of the tax rates for vehicles, which had even got to zero for popular cars, and will last until the end of this month. The reduction of IPI, and the subsequent replacement of stocks, also had an effect on the consumption of energy, which in February grew 4.9% in relation to January and showed an increase of 0.7% compared to February 2008, according to the preliminary data of the ONS (Electric System National Operator).
