Overall market confidence in Irish economy softens in December: survey

DUBLIN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The overall market confidence in the Irish economy softened in December, according to a survey released by Bank of Ireland on its website on Wednesday.

The Economic Pulse, an indicator measuring the overall market sentiment in the country, stood at 88.9 in December, down 1.5 points on November's reading and 3.5 points lower while compared with the same period last year, said the survey.

According to the survey, the country's Consumer Pulse or the consumer confidence index for December was 94.7, 1.2 points lower than the previous month's reading of 95.9 while the Business Pulse for the month dropped 1.6 points from last month's reading to 87.5, which is 5.7 points lower than a year ago.

The drop of the market confidence in December was largely due to the fact that the first phase of the Brexit negotiations and the Irish border issue in particular reached a critical juncture, said the survey.

"While the Consumer Pulse has been on a broadly upward trajectory in 2017, the Business Pulse has been largely moving in the opposite direction," said Dr. Loretta O'Sullivan, the chief economist of the bank.

O'Sullivan attributed the generally upbeat consumer confidence in 2017 mainly to more job opportunities and increased incomes brought by a strong economic growth.

Latest official statistics say that Ireland's economic growth rate for 2017 will reach 4.8 percent and its current long-term unemployment (people out of work for more than a year) is down at around 3 percent. The Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar was quoted by local media Wednesday as saying that the rapid increase of wages could damage the country's competitiveness.

The overall business sentiment in the country softened in 2017, said O'Sullivan, adding that this is mainly because of the repercussions of the UK's decision to leave the EU.

The Economic Pulse, which combines the results of the Consumer Pulse and the Business Pulse, is an economic indicator for Ireland based on a monthly survey conducted by Bank of Ireland over 1,000 households, 500 firms in industry, 800 services firms, 500 retailers and 250 construction firms in the country. It provides a timely and comprehensive picture of the economic environment in Ireland. Enditem