Economic sentiment edges up in Czech Republic in October
Staff Writer |
The economic sentiment indicator published by the Czech Statistics Office (CSO) rose from September’s 97.1 points to 97.5 points in October, marking a nine-month high.
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The reading reflected an increase in consumer confidence, while business confidence remained stable. The index nevertheless remains below its 100-point long-term average, as it has been since mid-2008, FocusEconomics reports.
The sub-indicator of business confidence remained stable at September’s 95.2 points in October. The reading reflected lower confidence in the industrial sector, while sentiment increased in the construction and trade sectors, and remained unchanged in the services sector.
For construction and industry, businesses’ expectations for the general economic situation in the next three and six months improved compared to September; for trade, expectations for the next three months remained unchanged, while for the next six months they increased; finally, in the services sector expectations for both the next three and six months remains unchanged compared to last month.
Consumer confidence rose in October to 108.9 from 106.4 in September. The result marked a nine-month high. The rise reflected that consumers have become less concerned about a rise in unemployment.
According to the survey, households’ assessments of the overall economic situation in the next twelve months, their financial standing and an increase in prices remained unchanged from the previous month.
FocusEconomics panelists expect private consumption to expand 2.8% in 2016, which is unchanged from last month’s projection. For 2017, the panel sees private consumption growing 2.7%.
Panelists see fixed investment increasing 1.1% in 2016, which is unchanged from last month’s projection. For 2017, panelists expect fixed investment to expand 2.5%, which is also unchanged from last month’s projection. ■
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