According with the opinions expressed in the April 2017 Investment Survey (with an inquiring period between the 1st April and the 28th June 2017), the entrepreneurial investment is expected to present a nominal increase of 5.1% in 2017, which compares with the estimate of 3.8% obtained in the October 2016 Investment Survey. This survey also points that in 2016, an increase of 7.4% in investment has occurred.
Among the investment objectives, the relative weights of the streamline production investment and the investment for other purposes is expected to increase. Consequently the replacement investment and the extension of the production capacity investment relative weights are predicted to decrease, even though the latter will continue to stand as the most mentioned investment objective.
Regarding the main limitative factor for business investment identified in the survey, the deterioration of the sales perspectives was the most mentioned in both years, followed, in 2016, by the uncertainty about the investment profitability and, in 2017, by the lack of self-funding capacity. Between 2016 and 2017 the relative weight of the lack of self-funding capacity is expected to increase while the relative weight of the uncertainty about the investments profitability will decrease.