(RTTNews) - Belgium's business confidence deteriorated for the fifth consecutive month in August, the National Bank of Belgium said Wednesday.
The business sentiment indicator dropped sharply to -7.8 from July's -2.5. Economists had forecast the index to fall to -3.5.
The biggest fall in sentiment was in the business services sector with the corresponding index falling to 2.7 from 13.9. Confidence in the manufacturing industry weakened further to -12 from -6.2. In the building industry, business morale fell to -4.5 from -4.1.
In these three sectors, demand forecasts have been revised downwards, the bank said. Meanwhile, morale improved in the trade industry owing to more positive outlook, with the index rising to 5 from 1.2. This reversed the decline seen in the previous month, the survey said.
The smoothed overall synthetic curve, which reflects the underlying trend in the economy, remains on a downward path, the central bank survey found. The reading fell was -1.5 in August.
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