Respondents believe that US economic conditions will improve

Confidence in the US equipment finance market rebounded strongly in June, according to the Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI) released by Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation.

The index hit 45.8, up from the May index of 25.8.

When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 37% of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, up from 3.3% in May. 18.5% believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, an increase from 10% the previous month. 44.4% believe business conditions will worsen, a decrease from 86.7% in May.

None of the leadership evaluated the current US economy as "excellent", unchanged from the previous month. 22.2% of those surveyed evaluate the current US economy as "fair", up from 10% in May, while 77.8% evaluate it as "poor", down from 90% last month.

On the prospects for economic recovery, 55.6% of the survey respondents believe that US economic conditions will get better over the next six months, an increase from 20% in May. 25.9% indicate they believe the U.S. economy will "stay the same" over the next six months, a decrease from 30% last month. 18.5% believe economic conditions in the US will worsen over the next six months, down from 50% the previous month.

The Foundation also released highlights of the COVID-19 Impact Survey of the Equipment Finance Industry, a monthly survey of industry leaders designed to track the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the equipment finance industry.

The results show that almost all (92%) equipment finance companies have offered payment deferrals. Most (82%) expect that the default rate will be greater in 2020 than in 2019.

A majority (81%) of respondents have not furloughed or laid off employees.