October saw an increase of consumers' confidence by 3 percentage points from July, reflecting an increase of 1.9 percentage points among the urban opulation and 5.6 percentage points among the rural population, said the National Statistical Institute.

The overall assessment by consumers of the ongoing development of the economic situation in the country is improving (by 7.2 percentage points).

Rural people have more optimistic expectations for the coming 12 months while townsfolk's expectations remain largely unchanged from the past three months.

Consumers see some positive changes in the finances of their households in the past 12 months. Rural consumers expect this to persist in the next 12 months - unlike urban consumers, who don't.

The current economic situation continues to be perceived by the majority of consumers as savings-unfriendly but they hope this would change in the next 12 months.

Consumers say that consumer prices continued to rise rapidly in the past 12 months. Their inflation expectations remain unchanged for the next 12 months.

In respect of unemployment, the prevailing expectations are for more layoffs in the coming year but at an average pace.

Despite a fractional improvement, the overall attitude to possible purchases for long-term use (a car, a house, or home improvements) in the current situation remains negative.

Source: BTA