Spain's consumer confidence increases by 1.4 points in March

Spain's consumer confidence rose by 1.4 points in March to 100.4 points placing the Consumer Confidence Indicator (CCI) over 100 points, indicating a positive perception of Spain's economic situation.
The CCI, which was published on Monday by the Sociological Research Center (CIS), ranges between 0 and 200 points, with ratings over 100 points considered as positive perceptions of the economic situation and ratings below that figure indicating a negative perception.
According to the CIS, the CCI increased thanks to more optimistic opinions about the current economic situation and expectations of the future.
The indicator of people's expectations of the future increased by 1.4 points to a total of 113.7 points due to more optimistic opinions about the situation of households. However, opinions on labor market and the general economic situation were more pessimistic.
A total of 31 percent of people surveyed said they could save money by the end of the month, while 43 percent said they could not and 21.4 percent said they had debts or needed to use their savings for payments.
The indicator of the current economic situation also increased by 1.4 points to a total of 87.1 points thanks to more optimistic opinions about the general situation of the country's economy and job opportunities.
According to the report, three in 10 of people surveyed said the current situation of Spain's economy was better than six months ago, although 35 percent of them argued it was worse.
The CIS did more than 1,500 interviews for the CCI which help forecast the evolution of the country's economy taking into account consumers' behavior that directly affects domestic demand.