The mood about the economy in Slovakia continued to deteriorate in January. Slovakia’s Statistics Office reported that the overall economic sentiment indicator (ISE) fell 3.1 percentage points from December to 79.1 points. The office stated that this is the lowest value of the indicator since January 1997. This low value is explained by negative confidence indicators in the industrial and construction sectors. In y-o-y terms, the economic sentiment indicator was 21.5 percentage points lower. Moreover, it shrank 21.3 points below its long-term average, the SITA newswire wrote.
Compared with the end of 2008, consumer atmosphere in Slovakia did not change considerably in January, says the Statistics Office. Citizens' concerns were related to three components: evaluation of the development of Slovakia's economy, expected unemployment, and the projected financial situation of households. Less pessimism regarding households' prospective savings resulted in only a 0.1 point month to month drop in the consumer confidence indicator to minus 30.1 points. But the indicator remains below its long-term average. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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