March consumer confidence improved slightly while business confidence fell, Istat national statistics bureau said Tuesday. Consumer confidence rose form 114.5 points in February to 115 points in March. Business confidence fell from 103.2 to 100.1 points in the same period, Istat said. Business confidence rose in manufacturing (from 102 to 102.2), while the biggest drop was in the services sector (from 106.5 to 103.2 points).
The data is based on a survey was conducted in the first two weeks of March, i.e. before the March 22 Islamist terror attacks in Brussels that claimed at least 35 lives. Federconsumatori and Adusbef consumer groups said Istat has "overestimated" consumer confidence.
"Such data, however cautious, is out of place given the extremely serious situation families' purchasing power," the two associations said in a statement.
"One must face reality in order to help the country and the economic system," Federconsumatori chief Rosario Trefiletti and Adusbef director Elio Lannutti said in a joint statement.
"Families are still in a state of crisis, afflicted by lack of jobs while purchasing power is at a historic low," they said.
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