Belgium: Economic sentiment falls to 10-month low in January
Economic sentiment fell to 90.2 in January from December’s 95.7. Consequently, the index remained below the long-term average of 100, pointing to a muted near-term outlook for the economy.
The headline print reflected weaker sentiment in the industrial sector and construction sectors. Likewise, confidence in the services sector softened in January, while sentiment in the retail sector waned in the surveyed month. Lastly, consumer confidence cooled in January.
Relating to indicators that are not used to calculate the index, employment expectations deteriorated, while the economic uncertainty index rose in January.