Slovakia's Index of Economic Sentiment (IES), a measure of confidence in the country's economy, continued to grow in October for the fifth month in a row, rising by 2.3 points month-on-month to 77.5, the Statistics Office said on Wednesday, October 28. This means that the IES is still moving away from its lowest-ever level of 66.2 points, which was recorded during the ongoing global economic crisis. The improvement in the indicator was mainly influenced by a significant increase in confidence in services, although the IES was still 15.7 points lower year-on-year and 22.9 below its long-term average.
Confidence in industry in October grew by 3.6 points to minus 8.7 points. This was caused by an increase in demand for industrial goods and by expectations that industrial production will grow in the next three months. The confidence indicator in construction in October grew by 5 points m-o-m to minus 47.5 points, which is still 26.5 points below the long-term average. When it came to services, the indicator went up by 5.3 points m-o-m to minus 1 point, though this is still far below its long-time average.
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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