Finland's Consumer Confidence Remains Negative; Business Morale Weakens

Finland's consumer confidence remained at a weak level in March despite rising slightly since March, survey figures from Statistics Finland showed on Wednesday.

Separate data from the Confederation of Finnish Industries revealed that industrial sentiment dropped further and showed a negative score in March.

The consumer confidence index rose to -9.4 in March from -9.5 in February.

Further, the score is well below the long-term average of -2.4.

The data was collected from 1,229 people between March 1 and 18.

Households' views concerning their own economy at present improved slightly from the previous month, while expectations regarding it weakened. Expectations concerning Finland's economy remained unchanged.

Purchasing intentions were generally very low, as households still regarded the time as very unfavourable for buying durable goods. In addition, intentions to buy a dwelling continued to fall in March.

The survey showed those households' concerns about consumer price inflation in one year's time dropped slightly, though still fairly high.

Expectations regarding the way the country's unemployment rate continued to be gloomy, as 57 percent of consumers believed unemployment would rise.

The industrial confidence index dropped to -13 in March from -11 in February, the Federation of Finnish Industries said. Further, the confidence was well below the long-term average of +1.

Among the main sectors, manufacturing confidence worsened, while morale for construction strengthened. The rest of the sectors remained unchanged.

Production is expected to decrease slightly in the coming months, while order backlogs have continued to shrink, the survey said.

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