One of the poll questions asked how higher interest rates were affecting business: 38 percent of respondents were seeing reduced profit margins, 37 percent were facing increased borrowing costs, and 31 percent have deferred capital investment due to high interest rates.
However, more than half of the respondents (56 percent) said they expect interest rates to begin dropping, which they think will have a positive effect on their businesses. To manage the higher rates in the meantime, business owners have increased cash reserves (43 percent), reduced reliance on debt (37 percent), and diversified their funding sources (32 percent). 72 percent of owners said they were confident that they could fund their operating expenses for a month—up from 64 percent who agreed in March.
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