The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (the Foundation) releases the February 2017 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI) today. Designed to collect leadership data, the index reports a qualitative assessment of both the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future as reported by key executives from the $1 trillion equipment finance sector. Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 72.2, leveling off after January’s all-time high index of 73.4.

美国设备融资租赁基金会公布2017年2月美国设备融资业月度信心指数 (MCI-EFI)。该指数通过收集该行业领导层数据，对拥有1万亿美元行业资本的设备融资业各企业主要高管给出的普遍经营状况和未来期望做了定性评估。总体而言，2月份美国设备融资市场信心指数为72.2，在1月份达到历史最高点后稍有下滑。

When asked about the outlook for the future, MCI-EFI survey respondent Thomas Partridge, President, Fifth Third Equipment Finance, said, “With the commitment of the Trump Administration to reduce regulation we expect more companies to start thinking more about expansion and the growth of their business versus a focus on regulatory compliance. Longer term concerns are over the direction of tax policies and their impact on the equipment finance industry. Any movement toward expensing capital expenditures could impact our industry. We think this is more of a 2018 issue than a 2017 issue.”  

当被问及美国设备融资租赁业未来发展前景时，MCI-EFI调查对象，Fifth Third Equipment Finance总裁Thomas Partridge表示：“特朗普政府承诺放宽监管，我们希望更多公司考虑扩大经营，发展业务，以及关注法规遵从性。长期关注税收政策方向，以及对设备融资业的影响。任何有关资本支出抵税的动向都会影响我们的行业。我们认为这一问题将在2018年到来，而不是2017年。”

February 2017 Survey Results:

2017年2月调查结果：

The overall MCI-EFI is 72.2, a decrease from the January index of 73.4.

2017年2月份的总体MCI-EFI为72.2，低于2017年1月份的73.4。

When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 69.2% of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, a decrease from 74.2% in January. 26.9% of respondents believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, an increase from 22.6% in January. 3.8% believe business conditions will worsen, an increase from 3.2% the previous month.

当被问及如何评价未来四个月经营状况时，69.2%的受访高管认为未来四个月的经营状况将得到改善，较1月的74.2%有所下滑。26.9%的受访者认为未来四个月的经营状况将保持原状，高于1月的22.6%。3.8%的受访者认为经营状况会变糟，较上个月的3.2%有所上升。

 53.8% of survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, a decrease from 71.0% in January.  42.3% believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month time period, up from 25.8% the previous month.  3.8% believe demand will decline, up from 3.2% who believed so in January.

53.8%的受访者认为未来四个月通过租赁和贷款获得资本支出(capex)的需求会上升，低于1月的71.0%。42.3%的受访者认为四个月内的需求不会改变，高于上个月的25.8%。3.8%的受访者认为四个月内月需求会下降，高于1月的3.2%。

 15.4% of the respondents expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, a decrease from 19.4% who expected more in January.  84.6% of executives indicate they expect the “same” access to capital to fund business, an increase from 80.6% the previous month. None expect “less” access to capital, unchanged from last month.

15.4%的高管期望未来四个月获得的设备采购资金增多，低于1月的19.4%。84.6%的受访者期望未来四个月获得的设备采购资金不变，较1月的80.6%有所上升。跟上个月一样，没有受访者预测获得的设备采购资金减少。

•   When asked, 42.3% of the executives report they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, an increase from 35.5% in January. 50.0% expect no change in headcount over the next four months, a decrease from 61.3% last month. 7.7% expect to hire fewer employees, up from 3.2% in January.

42.3%的受访高管预测未来四个月雇佣更多的员工，较1月的35.5%有所上升。50.0%的受访高管预测未来四个月员工总数不变，较上个月的61.3%有所下滑。7.7%的受访高管计划减少员工数量，较1月的3.2%有所增加。

•   None of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” unchanged from last month. 100.0% of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “fair,” and none evaluate it as “poor,” both also unchanged from January.

与上个月一样，没有受访高管评估当下美国经济形势“极好”。100.0%的受访高管认为当前美国经济形势“一般”，没有高管认为当前美国经济形势“差”，两者较上个月有没有变化。

•   73.1% of the survey respondents believe that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, an increase from 61.3% in January. 26.9% of survey respondents indicate they believe the U.S. economy will “stay the same” over the next six months, a decrease from 38.7% the previous month. None believe economic conditions in the U.S. will worsen over the next six months, unchanged from last month.

73.1%的受访者认为未来六个月美国济状况会“更好”，较1月的61.3%有所上升。26.9%的受访者认为未来六个月美国经济状况“不变”，较1月的38.7%有所下降。与上个月一样，没有受访者认为未来六个月美国经济状况会“变差”。

•   In February, 65.4% of respondents indicate they believe their company will increase spending on business development activities during the next six months, an increase from 58.1% in January. 34.6% believe there will be “no change” in business development spending, a decrease from 41.9% the previous month. None believe there will be a decrease in spending, unchanged from last month.

2月，65.4%的受访者预计未来六个月他们所在的公司会增加用于业务发展的支出，较1月的58.1%有所上升。34.6%的受访者认为未来六个月所在公司的业务发展支出不变，较上个月的41.9%有所下降。与上个月一样，没有受访者认为未来六个月所在公司会减少业务发展支出。