Italy: Consumer confidence continues to sink in April
The consumer confidence index released by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) declined to 110.5 points in April from March’s 111.2 points, marking the worst result since July 2017.
April’s deterioration was broad-based: the economic, personal, current, and future components, all lost ground. Consumers’ expectations of the future general economic situation worsened notably, most likely due to the poor state of the economy and the government’s erratic economic and fiscal policy. Additionally, consumers’ willingness to buy big-ticket items and their assessments of current and future savings opportunities also plunged. Moreover, consumers’ assessments of their future economic situation worsened, as did their outlook on unemployment. On the other hand, some gains were recorded in households’ assessments of their current financial situation.