Consumer confidence reached a five-month high in February, but the underlying recovery was “tentative”, a new survey showed.

The KBC Ireland/ESRI consumer sentiment index for February rose to 50.3, up from 48.7 in January and the highest seen since September.

The improvement was due to an increase in the forward looking expectations index, which rose from 31.5 in January to 37.8 last month.

The improvement came despite bad news during the survey period.

“The run-up to the election focused heavily on Ireland’s economic problems and we also saw downward revisions to growth forecasts as well as further increases in energy and food prices,” said KBC Ireland economist Austin Hughes. “In these circumstances, the marginal increase in sentiment hints that Irish consumers have prepared themselves for a lot of bad news. They may also have responded to evidence of stronger global growth as well as tentative signs of improvement in a variety of domestic economic indicators. “

However, the index of current economic conditions weakened from 74.2 in January to 68.9 in February.

“Part of the improvement in sentiment is due to a move from a negative to a neutral outlook by respondents, suggesting a cautious outlook by consumers. The underlying message from the analysis is that consumers remain cautious in the present circumstances,” said David Duffy, ESRI.

The results are still far below long-term norms, KBC’s Hughes said.

“In particular, looming ECB interest rate increases could take a further toll on confidence in the months ahead. That said, February survey results hint at some resilience in sentiment which might suggest spending may not be quite as weak as feared,“ he said.