Greek economic sentiment index up slightly in Dec

Greek economic sentiment index rose slightly to 87.1 points in December, from 86.5 in November, but remained low compared with a 99.1 point level reached in December 2014, the Institute for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) said on Friday.

In a monthly report, IOBE attributed this development to improved expectations mainly in the retail commerce and the manufacturing sector, while consumer confidence also improved slightly. On the other hand, pessimism in the services and construction sectors rose in December.

The report said that despite increased tax burden of the period and uncertainty over developments in social and economic policy, such as a a pension system reform, a climate of stability prevailed in the last four months of 2015, while citizens’ and enterprises’ expectations seemed to stabilize although at a lower level compared with 2014 and with the first half of 2015 as the imposition of capital controls proved to be a turning point for the economy.

More analytically, business expectations over manufacturing production remained unchanged, while estimates over inventories rose slightly and very negative estimates over new orders and demand eased.

In the services sector, expectations over current situation remained intense, while estimates over current demand deteriorated more compared with short-term expectations.

In the retail commerce, negative expectations over current sales and their short-term development eased, while inventories rose slightly.

In the construction sector, expectations over current work schedule deteriorated strongly while employment expectations remained unchanged in December.

In consumer confidence, expectations over households’ finance improved