Economic sentiment improved “significantly” in March the University of Cyprus’ Economics Research Centre has said.
In a bulletin, on Monday, the Research Centre says that in March 2021, economic sentiment in Cyprus improved significantly as the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI-CypERC) increased by 8.9 points compared with February 2021.
“The increase in the ESI-CypERC was mainly driven by confidence gains in services and among consumers,” it notes.
The large increase in the Services Confidence Indicator resulted from firms’ improved assessments of their past performance and upward revisions in demand expectations, it continues.
he small increase in the Retail Trade Confidence Indicator was due to improved views on the current stock levels and upward revisions in sales expectations, it adds.
At the same time, the Construction Confidence Indicator improved slightly as a result of upward revisions in employment expectations, despite more negative assessments of the levels of order books.
The marginal decrease in the Industry Confidence Indicator was driven by the deterioration in firms’ views on the current levels of finished goods stocks, the Economics Research Centre says.
“The marked improvement in the Consumer Confidence Indicator reflected consumers’ more optimistic expectations about their future financial conditions and the future economic conditions in Cyprus, as well as consumers’ stronger intentions to make major purchases over the next months,” it concludes.
(CNA)
