Netherlands: Business sentiment declines to multi-year low in June

Confidence among Dutch manufacturers dropped from 4.7 in May to 3.3 in June, as sentiment has cooled in the second quarter over the prior quarter. The index nonetheless remained above the neutral zero-point mark that separates optimism from pessimism and the long-term average of 1.0 over the past 20 years. In fact, the last time goods producers were pessimistic was September 2014.

The main downward pressure in June came from less optimism regarding output expectations, as the sub-component turned negative. Views on order books and stocks of finished goods also became less rosy.

Netherlands Fixed Investment Forecast

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists see fixed investment growing 3.8% in 2019, which is up 0.7 percentage points from last month’s forecast. For 2020, the panel expects fixed investment to expand 1.7%.