CYPRUS: Confidence in the economic outlook improving

In September the economic feel-good factor in Cyprus improved as the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI‐CypERC) increased by 3.4 points compared with August.

The increase was driven by a stronger confidence in services, industry, and, to a lesser extent, among consumers, said the University of Cyprus Economics Research Centre on Wednesday. 

The Services Confidence Indicator increased as a result of improved assessments of past business situation and past demand, and significant upward revisions in demand expectations.

But the Retail Trade Confidence Indicator decreased due to a deterioration in firms’ assessments of past sales and current stock volumes, and downward revisions in sales expectations.

The Construction Confidence Indicator remained unchanged as both of its components (current level of order books and employment expectations) stayed at about the same levels as in the previous month. 

The Industry Confidence Indicator increased as a result of improved assessments of current orders and stock volumes of finished products, and upward revisions in production expectations.

Consumers were also more confident with the Indicator driven by improved consumer expectations regarding their financial conditions, savings and the future economic prospects in Cyprus.

For the first time since the 2013 financial crisis, there was a fall in the number of consumers who thought prices were stable or reduced over the previous 12 months.