Confidence in economy down in July

ANKARA

The economic confidence index declined by 0.2 percent in July from the previous month to stand at 93.4, after falling 3.3 percent month-on-month in June, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) have shown.

Any index figure above the 100-threshold indicates optimism.

The index had gained 2 percent monthly in May.

TÜİK data showed that three of five sub-indices declined in July excect for the consumer confidence and the construction industry.

The consumer confidence, which plunged 6.2 percent month-on-month in June, recovered sharply, rising 7.4 percent to 68 in July.

Consumers’ assessments of and expectations for their current and future - in the next 12 months - financial situations as well as the general economic outlook all improved this month compared with June.

Deterioration in business morale, however, continued for the fourth month in a row.

The real estate sector confidence index fell by 2 percent in July, after dropping 2.2 percent in June, to 102.5. But the confidence index for the real estate sector still remained above the 100-mark.
The confidence index for the services sector, which was down 1.7 percent last month, declined by another 1.5 percent on a monthly basis in July.

The monthly decline in the confidence index for the retail industry deepened from 2.3 percent in the previous month to 4.5 percent in July.

The confidence index for the construction sector advanced 2.4 percent in July, which came on top of the 1.7 percent increase in June.