January 26, 2015

The producer confidence indicator, which measures Dutch manufacturers’ sentiment, dropped from 3.4 points in December to 2.8 points in January, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). This marks the first drop after three consecutive increases. However, the index still rests well above the 0-point threshold that separates optimistic from pessimistic sentiment.



According to the CBS, January’s slight deterioration was mainly driven by the fact that producers were less positive about their output in the next three months. On the upside, producers’ sentiment regarding order books and stocks of finished products improved compared to the previous month.

For 2015, FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists see fixed investment growing 2.5%, which is unchanged from last month’s forecast. For 2016, the panel expects fixed investment to expand 2.9%.