Economic sentiment in Slovakia improved modestly in February, the SITA newswire reported, citing the Slovak Statistics Office (ŠÚ). Based on ŠÚ figures, the economic sentiment indicator (ESI) rose by 0.9 points to 88.6 points. Its development was mainly influenced by an increase in confidence in services and the consumer sector, as well as by a slight improvement in trade confidence. The ESI is 8.8 points lower than in the same period last year and lags behind the long-term average by 16.7 points, SITA wrote on Thursday, February 28.
Confidence in industry dropped 3 percentage points to minus 12.3 points due to an anticipated decline in industrial output in the coming three months. Confidence in the building industry remained more or les unchanged at minus 54 points. Confidence in trade rose by 1.6 percentage points on the previous month, and service confidence jumped 10.3 points to 15 points after a decline in January. Consumer confidence rose by 4.2 points in February to minus 32.9 points, but lags behind its long-term average by 9.3 points. Compared with the same period a year ago, the indicator was 0.4 points lower.
Sources: SITA, ŠÚ
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
