JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African business confidence recovered from a 35-year low in July, boosted by improving global economic activity, but the measure remained well-below average, over worries about the slow re-openinng of the economy and soaring local infections.

On Wednesday the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (SACCI) monthly business confidence index (BCI) rose to 82.8 in July from 81.4 in June.

The sentiment gauge had crashed to 70.1 in May, its lowest since the inception of the survey in 1985, and below last year’s average of 92.6.