Consumer confidence plunged to a record low of -41 in March, the Central Bank of Malta reported in its Quarterly Review, issued on Monday.

All the components of the index declined, particularly households’ assessments of the general economic situation and their own financial position over the coming 12 months.

The Central Bank said respondents were also more pessimistic about their ability to save and about job prospects. The decline in sentiment was spread across most occupational segments.

On balance, compared to last December, a larger number of consumers expected prices to rise in the coming 12 months. The number of respondents believing the time was appropriate to make major purchases remained roughly unchanged.

After having risen in the December quarter, industrial confidence among Maltese manufacturers remained practically unchanged in the first quarter of 2011.

Having declined in the second half of 2010, confidence among service providers rose to 25 in March from 13 in December.

The seasonally-unadjusted indicator for the construction industry improved in the first three months of this year, however, remaining in negative territory. The relevant index stood at -19 in March, 16 percentage points above the December level and 12 percentage points higher than the 2010 average, the Central Bank said.

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