BRATISLAVA, May 23, (WEBNOVINY) — Consumer confidence in Slovakia improved in April. According to the Slovak Statistic Office’s consumer barometer, the indicator of consumer confidence in April reached negative 29.8 points, which meant that consumer mood expressed by the indicator improved by 2.4 points from the previous month. The indicator worsened by 13.5 points from a year ago and compared with the situation three months ago, it fell by 3.2 points. This stems from results of a survey which the Statistics Office carried out in early April 2011 on a representative sample of 1,175 respondents.
In monthly terms, in particular expectations regarding the inflation and economic situation in Slovakia improved among consumers. A moderate improvement was reported also in expected financial situation of households, expected unemployment rate and in the perception of the thus-far economic situation in the country. On the other hand, the biggest deterioration of consumer confidence was reported in households’ plans of large purchases, while evaluation of the overall conditions for large purchases in Slovakia moderately worsened, too.
Compared with three months ago, the perception of the thus-far inflation and financial situation of households worsened the most. On the other hand, expectations regarding the future inflation are more positive. In yearly terms, views of the thus-far inflation sank the most. Compared with the same period a year ago, outlooks of expected inflation and overall economic situation in the country deteriorated, too. Negative outlooks dominated in the expected financial situation of households, too.
According to the provided data from 26 EU countries on the chart of states arranged on the basis of decreasing index of consumer confidence, Slovakia, where the index value represented negative 28.4 points net of seasonal influences, placed 18th. In the European Union as a whole, consumer atmosphere represented negative 13.9 points, thus exceeding the Slovak result by 14.5 points.
SITA
