Belgium: Economic sentiment improves in August, remains pessimistic
Economic sentiment rose to 93.2 in August from July’s 91.2. That said, the index remained below the long-term average of 100, pointing to a muted near-term outlook for the economy.
The headline print reflected worse sentiment in the industrial and retail sectors. More positively, August marked healthier sentiment in the construction sector. Meanwhile, confidence in the services sector and among consumers strengthened in August.
Relating to indicators that are not used to calculate the index, employment expectations deteriorated, while the economic uncertainty index fell in August.