CYPRUS: Business sentiment improves in February, says UCy

The economic climate improved in February with the Economic Sentiment Indicator increasing by 0.9 points compared with January, according to the latest business and consumer survey conducted by the Economics Research Centre of the University of Cyprus.

The increase, the survey said, is due to the improvement of the business climate in services and manufacturing.
The survey said that the upturn in services is attributed to more optimistic estimates for demand in the next quarter and, to a lesser extent, to more positive evaluations among companies for their financial situation during the last three months.
In manufacturing, an improvement in the climate was caused by less negative assessments on current orders.
In contrast, the economic climate in the construction sector declined due to pessimistic estimates on employment prospects, while the business climate in retail trade remained at the same negative level as the previous month.
The consumer confidence indicator also declined as a result of significant deterioration of the forecast in the general economic situation in Cyprus in the next 12 months and to a lesser extent, because of their weakened saving intentions.