TIRANA, June 1 /ATA/ – The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) rose by 3.9% in May, according to the latest Bank of Albania’s Business and Consumer Confidence Survey.
The rise in the ESI aggregate indicator mainly reflects the increased confidence in services sector, as well as across the sectors of industry, construction and trade.
Service Confidence Indicator (SCI) edged up by 11 percentage points in May, hitting the highest historical value. Currently, the SCI stands at 29 percentage points above the long-term average. The SCI was mainly driven up by the optimistic appraisals of businesses on the current performance of their activities. In addition, the second component of SCI – demand level – is assessed as upward in this month.
Also, assessments and expectations for the level of employment are edging up. Their expectations for the level of their prices in the future inched up in May compared to the previous month.
Construction Confidence Indicator (BCI) picked up by 5.3 percentage points in May, hitting again its historical highest level in this month. The current BCI stands 34.5 percentage points above the long-term average.
The uplift in BCI reflects the optimistic views on both current construction activity and the balance of current order books. In May, businesses operating in construction inched down their expectations on employment and selling prices in the future.
Industry Confidence Indicator (ICI) picked up by 2.6 percentage points in May 2023, positively driven by the optimistic appraisals on current production. Meanwhile, views on the development of the order books edged down this month. Current ICI stands at the highest historical level, around 19 percentage points above the historical average.
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