Economic Sentiment Indicator in Slovakia Falls by 0.6 M-o-M in April

Bratislava, April 28 (TASR) – The three-month average Economic Sentiment Indicator (EIS) fell by 0.6 points on the month to 104.0 points in April, the Slovak Statistics Office reported on Friday.

The change was due to negative developments in industry in March and April, as well as a decline in trust in services and among consumers last month.

Rising by 1.2 points year-on-year, the EIS level currently matches the long-term average.

As for individual sectors, the indicator of trust in industry in April decreased by 2 points m-o-m to 2 points, with posted growth in product stocks and a fall in orders the key drivers.

Meanwhile, the indicator of confidence in construction rose by 1.5 points month-on-month to minus 6.5 due to positive assessments concerning orders. The latest figure is 19.5 points above the long-term average.

The trust indicator in retail stood at 12.3 points, up by 2.6 points on a monthly basis. This was driven mainly by positive developments in current and expected business activities.

As for the indicator of confidence in services, the figure rose by 4.3 points to reach 14 points in April. The indicator was influenced by positive assessments of the business situation and developments in demand over the past three months, although expected demand was viewed negatively.

The mood among consumers hasn’t changed much for the third month in a row, with the seasonally adjusted consumer trust indicator going up by 0.5 points to minus 6.9 points in April. This was because of a toning down of pessimism when it came to lay prognoses of overall economic developments in the country. The latest seasonally adjusted result was 2.8 points higher than in April 2016 and also exceeded the long-term average.