April’s consumer prices (CPI) increased by 2.6% in one month, which was much higher than we expected (+0.9%). Higher prices of food (by 2.9%) and holiday packages (by 19.2%) contributed the most to rising monthly inflation, 0.5 percentage points each. In the group of food, prices of oil and fats increased the most (by 7%), followed by meat (by 6.3%), vegetables (by 5.2%) and bread and cereal products (by 2.9%). Electricity was also more expensive than in the previous month (by 11.6%), contributing 0.3 percentage points to inflation. Rising prices of clothing and footwear (by 3.8%) increased headline inflation by additional 0.3 percentage points. 0.2 percentage points were added by more expensive liquid fuels (by 20.4%).

The economic sentiment indicator in Slovenia stood at 4.3 percentage points in April and was 2.7 percentage points (p.p.) higher than in the previous month (1.6). Indicator was higher due to higher value of confidence indicators in services (by 1.3 p.p.), consumer sentiments (by 1.1 p.p.) and retail trade (by 0.6 p.p.). The impact of confidence indicators in manufacturing and construction was slightly negative (by 0.1 and 0.2 p.p., respectively). Source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia.

The ZEW indicator measures the sentiment of CFOs in the real economy. In the euro area, the April assessment of the current economic situation in the euro area fell again (-6.6 points), in Germany even more, by 9.4. It also declined in the US (-3.8), but US CFOs were still much more optimistic than others. In China, too, the situation has deteriorated sharply (-14.6 points), mainly due to a higher share of CFOs who assessed the situation as worse.

The composite PMI in the euro area (the survey was conducted between 11 and 28 March) fell slightly in March (from 55.5 to 54.9). The service part of the economy, on the other hand, still experienced increased demand, as the services PMI remained high (slight increase from 55.5 to 55.6). In the European services sector, growth was highest in France (up from 55.5 to 57.4) and in Germany (up from 55.8 to 56.1), while in Italy it fell from 52.8 to 52.1.

March consumer prices (CPI) in Slovenia rose by 5.4% on annual level, which is an extremely high decline after the February growth (6.9%) and stems from a temporary, 3-month reduction in excise duties on electricity energy and cap on retail fuel as well as due to the high effect of the base (in March 2021, prices were already much higher than in February 2021, which means the effect of a growing base over time contributed to reduced growth as well). It is interesting to note that the March sub indicator within consumer confidence showed that this month a record share of households estimated that price growth will be even higher in the future. We can say that they were wrong, probably at least for the months of March, April and May 2022.

The composite PMI index in the euro area decreased slightly in March (the survey was conducted between 11 and 22 March) (from 55.4 to 54.5), with a decline in the service indicator (decreases from 55.5 to 54.8) lower than in manufacturing (down from 58.2 to 57). The composite indicator fell slightly from the February highest value in the last five years, which was the result of the withdrawal of containment measures across Europe. However, index value was the second highest since November 2021 and well above the long-term average. Service sectors saw growth in demand due to higher consumption of their services, and the war in Ukraine and sanctions weakened the outlook for demand for goods.

The OECD estimates that global economic growth is expected to be reduced by 1 percentage point in 2022 due to uncertainties related to the war in Ukraine, while average inflation is expected to be an additional 2.5 percentage points higher, mainly as a result of rising energy and raw materials prices and a strong dollar. In the euro area, economic growth is expected to be 1.4 percentage points lower and inflation 2 percentage points higher. The direct economic importance of Russia and Ukraine is small in the global economy (2% of world GDP), and financial ties with other countries are small, which means limited risk. FDI of foreign companies in Russia and Russian companies abroad represent only 1 to 1.5% of global FDI.

In January, industrial production remained almost unchanged to December (seasonally adjusted) and was higher only by 0.1%. Quite surprising, growth was highest in electricity, gas and steam supply (+18%). It decreased by 0.9% in manufacturing (a modest growth of 0.5% was expected according to our view) and in mining and quarrying by 0.6%. Most of the industrial production in Slovenia is represented by manufacturing (90 %), where revenues nevertheless increased by 3.1% (despite drop in industrial production). The decline in production in manufacturing was largely influenced by the decline in production in durable consumer goods (-14.7%), where we estimate that it due to falling production of pharmaceuticals. In production of investment goods (machinery and equipment, semi-finished products), production grew by 0.9% but revenues fell by 5.3%. This was also due to slightly higher inventory growth (+3%).

The economic climate in Slovenia improved as expected in February 2022, mainly due to the predominant removal of restrictions that negatively affected some service activities (tourism, travel, sports, culture). It was 1.2 percentage points higher on a monthly basis (we expected an increase of 0.3 percentage points) and 10.1 percentage points higher on an annual basis. The monthly change in the sentiment indicator was positively influenced by higher values of consumer confidence indicators (by 0.6 percentage points), in services (by 0.5 percentage points) and in manufacturing (by 0.2 percentage points). The impact of confidence indicators in retail trade and construction was negative, but the impact was small (0.1 percentage point each).

Consumer confidence indicator was 3 percentage points higher on a monthly basis in February 2022, which was quite in line with our expectations (growth of 2 points). The rise in the confidence indicator was due to more optimistic consumer expectations regarding the economic situation in the country (by 8 percentage points) and the financial situation in households (by 7 percentage points). In our opinion, this is due to expectations of the withdrawal of the remaining containment measures as well as expectations of continuing wage growth.