Irish Consumer Sentiment Slips On Stricter COVID-19 Measures

Irish consumer sentiment slipped in August after local COVID-19 lockdowns and stricter nationwide restrictions that the survey’s authors said may cause some to re-assess how long the disruption will last.

Ireland has adopted one of the most cautious approaches in Europe in fighting the virus, with a slower reopening of its economy and maintenance of many restrictions for longer failing to halt a fresh spike in new cases this month.

The KBC Bank consumer sentiment index fell to 58.9 from 62.6 in July. That was still well above a low of 42.6 in April when activity ground to a near halt and led to the largest monthly drop on record in what was Europe’s fastest growing economy.

ESM