Belgium: Consumer sentiment improves in September; businesses pessimism eases
The consumer confidence indicator produced by the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) improved to minus 16 in September, the highest since March and a marked increase from August’s minus 26 reading. The increase came on better overall expectations on all fronts, notably for unemployment where households became less pessimistic for the first time since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak.
On the same note, NBB’s business confidence came in at minus 10.8 in September, up from minus 12 in August. Looking at the details, the improvement was driven by businesses in both the manufacturing and building industries turning less pessimistic, which outweighed gloomier views in trade and business-related services.