The decline comes from two business sectors, Industry and Retail Trade, while the consumer confidence index is strengthening slightly, as are the Services and Construction sectors.
Climate is shaped by various factors. The results of the European elections caused an increase in political and economic uncertainty in Europe, which seems likely to continue in the future. In our country, they affected the political environment, leading to governmental restructuring, although on a relatively limited scale. Any effects on economic policy are expected to be seen from the autumn.
In the meantime, the summer season is already generating increased incomes due to the strong performance of tourism and expectations that overall the effect on various sectors on incomes and employment will be strongly positive.
Inflation follows a path of gradual de-escalation. However, the question of accuracy still worries citizens since 58% of households expect a new rise in prices at the same or faster rate and 61% declare that they are "barely getting by". In the coming months, the economic climate will be affected by the growth rate of incomes as well as the prices of products and services.
In more detail:
- in Manufacturing, the negative balance of estimates for orders and demand eased significantly, estimates for inventories strengthened slightly while positive forecasts for production in the coming months faded.
- in Construction, the negative forecasts for business work programs were significantly reduced, while at the same time the positive forecasts for employment were significantly strengthened.
- in Retail Trade, estimates for current sales are weakening slightly, with inventory levels decelerating and forecasts for short-term sales development falling sharply.
- in Services, the positive estimates for the current state of business escalate markedly, while at the same time estimates for current demand weaken marginally, with forecasts for the short-term development of demand strengthening slightly.
- in Consumer Confidence, households' negative forecasts for the country's economic situation strengthened, while the corresponding ones for their own economic situation remained optimistic. At the same time, forecasts for major markets improved significantly while the intention to save weakened.
