The improved sentiment was mainly due to increased business confidence in services and to a lesser degree in retail trade, the Economic Research Centre of the university said in an emailed statement on Monday.

“The improvement in confidence in services in December results from more optimistic responds about the current financial situation of companies, as well as more favourable revenue estimates in the next quarter,” the university said. “The improvement in retail trade is related to expectations of increased sales in the next three months”.

Business sentiment in construction deteriorated slightly in December on a less favourable evaluation of the current contract book, the university said, adding that it remained unchanged in the construction sector.

Economic sentiment among households also fell slightly, mainly on a more pessimistic evaluation of household financial situation and labour market conditions in the next 12 months, the University of Cyprus said.

Source: Cyprus Mail