The slow vaccination has worsened investor confidence in the euro area

Eurozone investor confidence in the economy deteriorated surprisingly in February. The reason is the slower pace of vaccination against COVID-19, which negatively affected the assessment of the current situation and expectations. This was shown on Monday by data from the latest survey of the renowned Sentix institute. According to the survey, the confidence index, which reflects the mood of investors in 19 countries of the monetary union, fell to -0.2 points in February 2021 from 1.3 points in the previous month. At the same time, economists expected the index to rise to 1.9 points. The survey also showed that the partial index of the current situation in the economy fell in February to -27.5 from -26.5 points in January. The expectations index also fell to 31.5 points from 33.5 points in January. Sentix warned that permanent lockdown could be a problem because the gap between expectations and the current situation is extremely large. "It is a potential for temporary disillusionment," the institute said in a report. Sentix also released the results of a survey from Germany, which is the largest economy in the eurozone. They revealed that German investor confidence fell to 8.6 points in February from 9.2 points in January. While the sub-index of the current situation in Germany reached -15.5 points, which is its highest level since March 2020, the expectations index fell to 35.8 from 37.5 points.