Italy: Consumer confidence weakens slightly in April
The consumer confidence index released by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) dipped slightly to 117.1 points in April from 117.5 points in March. The reading nevertheless beat market expectations of 116.9.
April’s reading reflected a deterioration in consumers’ willingness to buy big-ticket items, as well as in their assessments of their future saving opportunities and in unemployment expectations. On the other hand, their assessments of both the current general economic situation and their personal economic situations improved. Moreover, consumers’ expectations on the future general economic situation and on their personal future economic situations also improved.
The results of the survey suggest that consumer sentiment was broadly unaffected by the political stalemate which followed the elections held on 4 March.