DUBLIN: There was a slight weakening in consumer sentiment in February, according to the latest consumer sentiment index from KBC Bank Ireland and the ESRI.
The index hit a nine year high in January so a decline from those levels was not unexpected.
The report’s authors point to a historic softening in the index in February as the post-Christmas festivities end and related bills arrive.
The index declined to 96.1 in February from 101.1 in January, reversing just under half of the gains in that month.
Our sense is that the underlying trend in Irish consumer sentiment remains solidly positive. The February reading is more than ten points higher than a year ago and the second highest in nine years,” Austin Hughes, chief economist with KBC Ireland remarked.He points out that, although the trend is improving, the index is still quite volatile.
Through the past year there have only been two occasions when there have been monthly gains in two consecutive months and no sequence of three successive increases,” he stated.
Mr Hughes said this reflected a still uncertain global economic environment and ongoing pressures on household finances that mean Irish consumers remain nervous and restrained.
Our sense is that the pull-back in Irish consumer sentiment last month is largely domestic in nature but mixed readings from confidence measures elsewhere suggest the global economic backdrop is still a source of some uncertainty to consumers here as well as their counterparts in other countries,” he explained.
