Ljubljana, 20 April (STA) - After a two-month drop, Slovenia's consumer confidence index increased again in April, reaching the highest point on record and significantly exceeding the long-term average, the Statistics Office said on Friday.
The index showing consumer sentiment increased by two percentage points compared to the month before, and was 21 points above the long-term average.
All four sub-indices comprising the index were up. Consumers' expectations about their finance and about jobs were up by three percentage points each, about the outlook for savings by two and about the state of the national economy by one point.
The sub-indices measuring consumers' opinion on household finances in the last 12 months and their expectations for the next 12 months reached the highest value on record, t.i. since 1996.
Consumers were as upbeat about household finances in April as they were before the crisis.
Consumer confidence in April was up by seven points year-on-year and was five points higher than last year's average.
The boost at the annual level came from greater optimism about the state of the national economy (+8pp), about jobs (+8pp), as well as about savings (+5pp) and about household finances (+4pp).