New cars boost UBS consumption indicator
The UBS consumption indicator continued to increase in August to a value of 1.95, up from its July level of 1.88.
As in the previous month the rise had a broad base, but the number of new car registrations was particularly strong: 11.9 per cent more cars were registered in August compared with the previous year.
In a statement on Tuesday, UBS said low interest rates and an improvement in the labour market, as well as the ongoing increase in the permanent resident population, should continue to support private consumption.
“The broadly based increase in the consumption indicator leaves us expecting a clear increase in private consumption in the second half of the year,” the bank said.
The UBS consumption indicator is calculated from five sub-indicators: new car registrations, business activity in the retail sector, the number of domestic overnight stays in hotels by Swiss citizens, the consumer sentiment index and credit card transactions via UBS at points of sale in Switzerland.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.