DAVY VIEW

This morning’s Irish consumer confidence survey showed that sentiment slipped slightly again in May, for a fourth consecutive month, but at a far softer pace than the heavy falls in March and April. This follows the conflict in Ukraine and electricity/gas price hikes of 15-40% implemented by energy providers in the past two months. However, credit/debit card data do not yet point to any material slowdown in spending, with expenditure on hard hit sectors such as accommodation and hospitality still recovering in May.