The Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI) continues to rise sitting at 67.6 in February, an increase of three points month-on-month and the highest level it has been since January 2025.

The MCI is produced by the Equipment Leasing & Finance Association (ELFA) and provides a qualitative assessment from key executives in the USD1.3 trillion equipment finance industry

“Since more than eight out of 10 US businesses, ranging from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies, use at least one form of financing for their equipment acquisitions, equipment finance industry confidence is significant for companies across all industries,” the ELFA states.

Assessing the next four months, 45.8% of survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures will increase, up from 40% in January.

A further 54.2% of respondents expect demand to remain the same down from 56% in January, while none believe demand will fall, down from 4% last month.

Looking at business conditions over the next four months, 58.3% believe they will remain the same, a slight increase on January’s 57.7%, with 37.5% of respondents expecting conditions to improve, up from 34.6% in January.

No respondents evaluated the US economy as poor, unchanged from January, while 4.2% rate it is excellent, up slightly from January’s 3.9%, and 95.8% assess it as fair (January was 96.2%).

In the next six months, 33.3% of respondents believe US economic conditions will get better, an increase from 30.8% in January. Another 58.3% expect the US economy to stay the same, down from 61.5%; and 8.3% believe economic conditions will worsen, an increase from 7.7% last month.

“We’re seeing some interesting dynamics in the equipment finance sector,” says survey respondent Jeffry Elliott, CEO of Eleven Capital.

“Tax policies increase capex spending, but favour cash or lending over leases. Business uncertainty is challenging, but equipment needs to be replaced. Inflation is eroding the benefits of lower interest rates. 

“Lack of workforce is a challenge to re-shoring and overall growth. I’m expecting a slow decline in the economy absent a large geo-political event which could push us into severe recession.”