Major findings

• The overall business climate has slightly improved during recent surveys, but this survey shows no tangible change compared to the same periods of 2016.
• The surveyed businesses' level of confidence regarding their current condition has also improved compared to the previous survey but their expectations regarding the coming six months have decreased.
• Like two earlier quarters of 2017, only Nangarhar region maintains positive business climate indicator, but Kandahar and Balkh have also shown small signs of improvements.
• Agriculture expects the highest rate of employment (13.1) and manufacturing the lowest (-9.4).
• Since the last season of 2016 manufacturing has gradually dropped to the bottom of sectoral ranking.
• Large companies keep improving, while SMEs suffer from a worsening business condition.
• Businesses have reported that their order books keep shrinking.
• The most important factor for business development is security; and none of the regions have reported a positive security indicator.

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