Confidence dips in US equipment finance market

Survey respondent Michael Romanowski, president of Farm Credit Leasing Services Corporation, said: “We are still working through the transition with customers to the new normal of tax reform. We continue to see a lot of confusion in the marketplace.”

In the latest findings, one-third (33.3%) of executives said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, a decrease from 54.8% in March, while 3.3% believe business conditions will worsen, an increase from none who believed so the previous month.

Less than half (46.7%) believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures will increase over the next four months, compared to 67.7% in March.

Currently, 30% of the survey respondents believe that US economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, a decrease from 45.2% in March. The proportion who believe economic conditions in the US will worsen over the next six months has doubled to 6.7%, from 3.2% in March.