Israel: Consumer confidence decreases, business confidence hits record-high in January

The consumer confidence index produced by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) dropped from minus 12.5 points in December to minus 13.8 points in January, which was a four-month low. The index remains firmly entrenched in negative territory.

The business confidence index came in at 19.8 in January, which was above the previous month’s reading of 19.4 points and the highest number on record.

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect private consumption to grow 4.1% in 2017, which is down 0.2 percentage points from last month’s estimate. The panel expects private consumption to grow 3.7% in 2018. Panelists expect fixed investment to grow 4.5% in 2017, which is up 0.2 percentage points from last month’s projection. For 2018, the panel sees fixed investment growing 3.8%.