Economic Sentiment deteriorates in January

In January 2022, economic sentiment in Cyprus deteriorated as the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI-CypERC) fell by 2.4 points compared with December 2021. The drop in the ESI-CypERC resulted from weaker business confidence in services and retail trade.

According to a press release by the Economic Research Centre of the University of Cyprus, the decrease in the Services Confidence Indicator was driven by firms’ less favourable views on past demand and downward revisions in demand expectations.

The Retail Trade Confidence Indicator decreased as a result of less favourable assessments of recent sales, despite improved sales expectations.

The increase in Construction Confidence Indicator was due to more favourable assessments of the current levels of order books.

The Industry Confidence Indicator stayed at the level registered in December, as the deterioration in the assessments of the stocks of finished products was offset by upward revisions in production expectations.

The Consumer Confidence Indicator improved slightly as consumers expressed stronger intentions to make major purchases in the near future, and revised their expectations about the future economic conditions in Cyprus upwards.

In January, economic uncertainty in Cyprus rose as result of higher uncertainty among firms in services, construction and industry, as well as among consumers; uncertainty in retail trade remained significantly elevated, despite a small drop.