Economic sentiment edges up in December

Economic sentiment in Cyprus improved in December, with the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESICypERC) increasing by 2.8 points compared with November 2020, the economic research centre of the University of Cyprus said on Wednesday.

The increase in the ESI-CypERC was driven by confidence gains in all sectors, except industry, as well as by improvements in consumer confidence.

The increase in the Services Confidence Indicator resulted from firms’ less adverse assessments of their recent turnover and upward revisions in demand expectations while the Retail Trade Confidence Indicator increased mainly due to more favourable assessments of stock volumes and upward revisions in sales expectations.

And the increase in the Construction Confidence Indicator was driven by improved assessments of the levels of order books and upward revisions in employment expectations.

In contrast, the Industry Confidence Indicator decreased marginally due to downward revisions in production expectations, despite more favourable assessments of the current levels of finished goods stocks.

The Consumer Confidence Indicator registered a small increase; consumers revised their expectations about their future financial conditions and the future economic conditions in Cyprus upwards. In December, consumers’ intentions to make major purchases weakened further, falling to their lowest point since April.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.