The confidence of business people in Brazil’s trade sector improved in May to the highest monthly level since June 2015, Brazilian news agency Brasil reported.

The Trade Business People’s Confidence Index rose 4.3 points month-to-month to 70.9 points in May, according to data compiled by Brazilian think tank Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV). But May’s figure represented a decline compared to the same period last year, the news agency said.

The survey found improvements in the perceptions of business people regarding the country’s current trade situation, as well as the expectations of the respondents regarding the future, the report added.

Aloísio Campelo, a Deputy Superintendent for Business Cycles at FGV, said – as quoted by the news agency – that the rise in the Trade Businessmen’s Confidence Index expressed “the reduction of pessimism in the sector”. He added however that the poll result should be treated “with caution,” partly because the level of confidence is “still very low”.