Economic sentiment deteriorated in June

The economic sentiment in Cyprus deteriorated in July, pushed downwards by weaker business confidence in services, industry and retail trade.

The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) compiled by the University of Cyprus’ Economic Research Centre (ERC) declined by 1.4 units in June dropping to 99.8 units compared with 101.2 units the month before

“The decrease in the ESI-CypERC resulted from weaker business confidence in services, industry and retail trade,” the ERC said in press release.

In Services, the Confidence Indicator decreased as firms’ assessments of the past business situation deteriorated, while the Retail Trade Confidence Indicator declined marginally as firms assessed their recent sales more negatively and revised their sales expectations downwards, despite more favourable views on current stock levels.

Furthermore, the Confidence Indicator in Constructions remained unchanged as improved assessments of the level of order books were offset by more pessimistic employment expectations, the ERC added.

The decrease in the Industry Confidence Indicator was due to less favourable views on the stocks of finished products and more pessimistic production expectations.

The Consumer Confidence Indicator remained unchanged. Upward revisions in consumers’ expectations regarding the economic conditions in Cyprus and stronger purchase intentions were offset by a deterioration in consumers’ views on their financial conditions.

Moreover, the economic uncertainty in Cyprus declined for a third consecutive month in June, as a result of lower uncertainty among firms. However, uncertainty among consumers rose for the second month in a row.