In February 2020, economic sentiment in Cyprus deteriorated as the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI-CypERC) decreased by 0.7 points compared with January 2020.

According to Economics Research Centre of the University of Cyprus, the decrease resulted from weaker business confidence in services, despite confidence improvements in retail trade, construction and among consumers.

The decrease in the Services Confidence Indicator was driven by firms’ less favourable views on their past turnover and downward revisions in demand expectations.

The increase in the Retail Trade Confidence Indicator resulted from firms’ improved assessments of their past sales and their current stock levels.

The Construction Confidence Indicator rose as a result of firms’ more favourable assessments of the current levels of their order books and upward revisions in employment expectations.

The Industry Confidence Indicator remained at the positive level registered in January, as the downward revisions in production expectations were offset by improved views on past performance.

The Consumer Confidence Indicator increased mainly due to consumers’ stronger intentions to make major purchases in the next 12 months.