Economic sentiment in Cyprus remained flat in November, despite a recovery in October, with the benchmark index dipping marginally, as a decline in business confidence in services was offset by an increase in confidence in the remaining sectors and among consumers.
The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI-CypERC), compiled by the Economics Research Centre of the University of Cyprus, dropped to 104.0 from 104.1 in October, higher than the 102.1 recorded in September and 103.7 in August, the two slowest readings during the past year.
The decrease in the Services Confidence Indicator was mainly driven by a deterioration in firms’ views on their recent turnover, according to the November ESI-CypERC.
The rise in the Retail Trade Confidence Indicator reflected improvements across all its components, namely assessments of stock levels and views on recent and expected sales.
The Construction Confidence Indicator increased again, as firms’ assessments of order book levels picked up further and employment expectations strengthened for the second month in a row.
The Industry Confidence Indicator rose slightly, owing to improved assessments of the current levels of order books and upward revisions in production expectations, despite a deterioration in the views on the stock of finished products.
Finally, the Consumer Confidence Indicator increased in November, as all four components of the indicator improved.
Specifically, consumers expressed more favourable views on their recent and future financial situation. In addition, consumers raised their expectations about economic conditions in Cyprus, while consumers’ intentions to make major purchases strengthened in November.
However, the Economic Uncertainty Indicator for Cyprus declined further in November to 10.9 points, having decreased in October to 11.7 points from 15.8 in September.
The second consecutive monthly drop in economic uncertainty reflected lower consumer uncertainty across all income groups, while business uncertainty remained broadly stable at the low levels recorded in October, according to the November ESI-CypERC.
