22.02.201909:30:00UTC+00Belgium Business Confidence Continues To Deteriorate

Belgium's business confidence weakened further in February, amid further deterioration of morale in the manufacturing and trade sectors, survey data from the National Bank of Belgium showed on Friday. The business confidence index fell to -1.7 from -1.5 in January. Economists had forecast a score of -1.9. Both manufacturing and trade sectors saw firms scaling down their expectations of an increase in demand in future. Retailers are now anticipating a decline in orders in the coming months. Sentiment improved strongly in services and construction industries. Both expect improvement in demand in the months ahead.