BRATISLAVA, July 28, (WEBNOVINY) — The sentiment in the Slovak economy deteriorated in the seventh month of this year. As the Statistics Office reported on Thursday, the economic sentiment indicator dropped 1.6 points from June to 93.9 points. The deterioration is attributable to a less favorable evaluation of almost all items except for consumers Respondents however were more optimistic than a year ago, with a 1.4-point improvement. Nonetheless, the current figure remains 4 points behind the long-term average.
The industry confidence indicator fell by 3.7 percentage points in July to minus nine points. It was affected by a drop in demand for industrial products and an increase in inventories. The confidence indicator in the construction industry slipped again 1.5 points from June to minus 45.5 points due to stronger pessimism regarding the level of the present-day demand. It remained 21.5 percent behind the long-term average.
The business confidence indicator stabilized in July. Its value posted just a negligible change dropping 0.3 points. On the unchanged level of inventories the decrease in the current business situation was offset by more optimism in evaluating the expected business situation. The confidence indicator in services dwindled by 8.7 percentage points from the previous month to 25 points, below the long-term average following a two-month period.
Consumer confidence improved following the stagnation in June. Compared with the previous month the consumer confidence indicator grew 2.8 percent to minus 21.9 over the considerably lower concerns regarding the expected unemployment. However, the pessimism of consumers grew 4.1 percent in annualized terms. Their pessimism decreased 2.1 percent compared with the long-term average.
SITA
