CYPRUS: March economic sentiment drops

In March, economic sentiment in Cyprus deteriorated as the Economic Sentiment Indicator of the University of Cyprus (ESI-CypERC) decreased by 1.6 points compared with the previous month, due to a worsening of business confidence in services, industry, and among consumers.

The monthly survey conducted by the Economics Research Centre of the University of Cyprus said that the Services Confidence Indicator declined due to a deterioration in firms’ assessments of past business situation and past demand.

The Retail Trade Confidence Indicator rose as a result of improved assessments of past sales and stock volumes, and upward revisions in sales expectations.

The Construction Confidence Indicator increased due to improved assessments of the levels of order books.

The Industry Confidence Indicator declined as a result of a deterioration in firms’ assessments of the current level of order books and stocks of finished products.

The decrease in the Consumer Confidence Indicator was mainly driven by downward revisions in consumers’ expectations about their future financial conditions and the future economic conditions in Cyprus.