ZAGREB, March 3, 2018 – The Consumer Expectations Index (CEI), which shows what citizens expect about changes in their household financial situation and the economic situation in the country over the next 12 months, reached 0.8 points in February 2018, the first positive result since 2007, Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) said on Friday, commenting on recent central bank (HNB) figures.
In February 2018, the CEI increased 2.7 points on the year.
The rise of the CEI was backed by rising expectations of changes in respondents’ household financial situation over the next 12 months, with the response index jumping from 3.3 in January to 6.1 in February, RBA said.
According to the latest HNB Consumer Confidence Survey, all three consumer indices have improved, but only the CEI was positive.
The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) recorded single-digit negative figures for the first time since January 2000, reaching -9.7 points in January and -6.2 points in February. The positive contribution comes from rising expectations of changes in respondents’ household financial situation, while deteriorated expectations related to unemployment trends over the next 12 months stopped a significant recovery of the CCI, RBA said.
The Consumer Sentiment Index improved from -15.2 points to -12.6 points in February.
