Dutch Consumers More Pessimistic In March

(RTTNews) - Dutch consumers remained slightly more negative at the end of the first quarter as the assessment of the economic climate in particular deteriorated, data from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday.

The consumer confidence index dropped to -34 in March from -32 in February. Moreover, the indicator in March was well below the 20-year average of -10 points.

Among its components, the economic climate index stood at -57 in March versus -54 in February, indicating that households were more negative about the economy than a month ago.

The indicator for willingness to buy also decreased somewhat to -18 in March from -17 in February. Consumers also found the time for making large purchases less favorable in March.