Brussels, 03/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - The economic sentiment indicator (survey of business leaders, shopkeepers and European consumers) published last Wednesday by Commissioner Pedro Solbes' services went up again slightly in March compared to results for February. This indicator increased by 0.3 points in the EU (99.8) and by 0.2 points in the Euro-zone (99.5), which means that figures have reached the same levels as before the attacks on11 September.
This indicator rose in Greece 0.1%, France 0.2%, Ireland 0.2%, Sweden 0.3%, United Kingdom 0.1% but especially in Belgium 0.8%, Germany 0.7%, Portugal 0.5% and Finaland 0.5%. In Denmark it remained stable and fell in Austria -0.4%, Spain -0.3%, the Netherlands 0.2% and Italy -0.1%. The Commission believes that these positive developments are due to a slight increase in confience amonsgts business leaders and, to consumer confiendence to a lesser extent. On the other hand, retail trade and construction confidence continued to fall.
The Commission has also published the results for buisness climate indicators in the Euro-zone, which rose by 0.2% in March (-0.62 compares to February). This positive development is due to improved production expectations in the Euro-zone.