The cost of money went up dramatically last year, and businesses which relied on very cheap (almost free) money for the last decade now need to make a profit or

The cost of money went up dramatically last year, and businesses which relied on very cheap (almost free) money for the last decade now need to make a profit or die. They are therefore panicking about the near future (and rightly so), this is what they mean by 'The current macroeconomic environment is tough'.