Economic sentiment in Cyprus improves in July

Economic sentiment improved in July, the University of Cyprus’ Economic Research Centre said on Wednesday.

In its monthly bulletin, the research centre says that in July 2022, economic sentiment in Cyprus improved as the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI-CypERC) increased by 1.4 points compared with June 2022.

“The increase in the ESI-CypERC resulted from stronger business confidence in services and industry,” it notes.

It points out that the increase in the Services Confidence Indicator was driven by improvements in firms’ recent business situation and upward revisions in demand expectations.

On the other hand, the Retail Trade Confidence Indicator declined marginally, as firms revised their sales expectations downwards and assessed their current stock levels less favourably.

According to UCys Economic Research Centre, the Construction Confidence Indicator remained unchanged for the second month in a row, as firms’ assessments of the level of order books and employment expectations stayed broadly stable.

“The rise in the Industry Confidence Indicators is attributed to upward revisions in production expectations,” it said.

The Consumer Confidence Indicator remained unchanged for the second consecutive month.

On the one hand, consumers assessed their recent financial situation more favourably, and were less pessimistic about their future financial situation and the future economic conditions in Cyprus. At the same time, consumers’ intentions to make major purchases “weakened significantly.”

“In July, economic uncertainty in Cyprus rose as a result of higher uncertainty in industry, services and construction; uncertainty among firms in retail trade and among consumers declined,” the centre said.