Greek economic sentiment index jumped to 107.2 points in September

The Greek economic sentiment index jumped to 107.2 points in September from 105.3 in July, the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) said in a report on Tuesday.

The report noted that the September figure was the highest since March 2008 and reflected an improvement in expectations in the retail commerce sector and consumers, while changes in the remaining business sectors were mild. At the same time, consumer confidence reached the highest level in the last 19 years. "It is obvious that the positive impact of the election result on the expectations of citizens and enterprises persists," IOBE said, adding that both consumers and enterprises reacted positively to the early economic policy measures of the government.

More specifically, business expectations in the industrial sector showed that a negative balance of estimates for new orders and demand strengthened, along with expectations over inventories, while estimates over production trends in the coming months presented a small change. In the construction sector, negative estimates over the work programme remained unchanged, while negative estimates over employment strengthened. In the retail commerce sector, positive estimates over current sales strengthened markedly, along with estimates over their short-term developments, while inventories eased. In the services sector, positive estimates over current demand eased.

Greek households were more optimistic over developments in the country's finances and their own finances, while savings intention improved and estimates over unemployment were more negative.