Consumer confidence deteriorated

GKI's combined monthly gauge of business and consumer confidence prepared jointly with Erste Bank fell again in May as an April improvement proved only temporary.

The index, prepared with European Union support, dropped to -13.2 points in May, its lowest level so far this year, primarily due to the spectacular 9-point fall in industrial expectations. from -9.1 points in April. The consumer confidence deteriorated less.

The business confidence index declined to -4.3 points in May from +0.6 points in April.

GKI added that the considerable fall in industrial expectations, which followed an almost uninterrupted rise of 24 months, was an unexpected development.

Industrial companies were more pessimistic than a month earlier with regard to the output of both the past and the upcoming period, and the assessment of the stock of orders – including export orders – also deteriorated. Inventories were seen as bigger than earlier by interviewees.