Irish consumer sentiment receives modest boost from giveaway budget

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Irish consumer sentiment improved in October, rising to 74.1 from 71.9 the previous month on a slight easing in cost-of-living pressures and a modest but not dramatic boost from the Oct. 1 giveaway budget, a survey showed on Friday.

The latest reading is well below the Credit Union Consumer Sentiment index’s long-term average of 84.3 and shows that consumers remain guarded in how they assess their own finances and the broader economic backdrop, the survey’s authors said.

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by Sarah Young)