Economic sentiment drops slightly in November

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Economic sentiment in Cyprus weakened in November from a deterioration in the construction sector as well as consumer confidence dipping.

According to a survey by the Economics Research Centre of the University of Cyprus, economic sentiment deteriorated slightly as the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI-CypERC) decreased by 0.5 points compared with October.

“The decrease in the ESICypERC resulted from the weakening of business confidence in construction and the worsening of consumer confidence,” Thursday’s report said.

On the other hand, a marginal increase in the Services Confidence Indicator “was driven by firms’ more favourable views on their past business situation and upward revisions in demand expectations”.

The Retail Trade Confidence Indicator remained unchanged compared with October; company assessments of past sales and current stock levels, sales expectations stayed broadly stable.

“The decrease in the Construction Confidence Indicator was driven by a deterioration in assessments of the levels of order books and downward revisions in employment expectations.” the business survey reads.

The Industry Confidence Indicator increased marginally “due to more favourable assessments of the current levels of finished goods stocks and upward revisions in production expectations.”

The Consumer Confidence Indicator fell to its lowest level since April.

In November, consumers assessed their recent financial conditions more negatively; also, they revised downwards their expectations about their future financial conditions and the future economic conditions in Cyprus.

Their intentions to make major purchases weakened marginally, it notes.