In February, European Commission’s consumer confidence improved for a second straight month, according to the advance estimate. Consumer confidence rose from -20.7 to -20.2, marginally weaker than the consensus estimate of -20.1. This is the second consecutive improvement in consumer sentiment, suggesting that not only business sentiment is picking up, but also consumers are a bit less pessimistic. Consumer confidence is, however, still well below the LT average (-12.2) as austerity measures are weighing on consumers’ budgets and unemployment is still peaking. In the coming months however, we believe that consumer sentiment will improve further as the economic outlook is brightening and uncertainty around Greece should ease somewhat.