Italy: Consumer confidence jumps to six-month high
The consumer confidence index released by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) rose to 113.4 points in July from June’s revised 109.8 points (previously reported: 109.6 points), marking the best reading since the beginning of the year.
July’s improvement was broad-based: the economic, personal, current, and future components, all gained ground, although to varying extents. Consumers’ assessments of the current general economic situation and their expectations on the future general economic situation improved notably, likely due to EU institutions not opening an excessive deficit procedure for Italy. Accordingly, their outlook on unemployment grew rosier, and their assessments of future saving opportunities also improved. Moreover, households’ willingness to buy big-ticket items soared. Additionally, some improvements were recorded in households’ assessments of their current financial and economic situation, which may be owing to better employment dynamics and some pick-up in wage growth.