LJUBLJANA: Consumer confidence in Slovenia reached an all-time-high in December as consumers’ optimism increased regarding employment, the financial position of households and savings, the statistics office said on Thursday.

The confidence indicator reached 1 point versus zero in the previous month and was 10 points higher than in December 2016, the office said in a report. The office started measuring the consumer confidence in March 1996.

“The value of the indicator is positive for the first time ever which means that there are more optimistic consumers than pessimistic ones for the first time,” the office said.

The indicator increased although the consumers’ expectations regarding the economic situation in the country declined slightly, it added. Slovenia narrowly avoided an international bailout for its banks in 2013 and returned to growth a year later. The government expects the economy to expand by 4.4 per cent this year versus 3.1 per cent in 2016, boosted by exports and investments.

The Bank of Slovenia on Tuesday raised its GDP growth forecasts to 4.7 per cent this year and 4.2 per cent in 2018, citing higher exports, investments and household spending amid a fall of unemployment.

The unemployment rate reached 8.8 per cent in October versus 10.5 per cent a year ago, the Employment Service said on Wednesday.

Consumer Confidence in Slovenia increased to 1 in December from 0 in November of 2017. Consumer Confidence in Slovenia averaged -19.77 from 1996 until 2017, reaching an all time high of 1 in December of 2017 and a record low of -45 in September of 2012.

Reuters