Türkiye’s economic confidence index declined on a monthly basis in March, the country’s statistical authority said on Thursday. The index fell 0.2% from a month ago to 98.8 in March, Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data showed. A value above 100 indicates an optimistic outlook for the overall economic situation, while a value below 100 suggests a negative assessment. The fall in March stemmed from decreases in the consumer, retail trade, and construction confidence indices, according to TurkStat. The sub-index for retail trade confidence saw the largest monthly decline of 4.4% and slipped to 117.7 in March. It was followed by the consumer confidence index, which dropped 2.9% to 80.1, while the construction confidence index was down 1.5% to 88.5, the data showed. The index for the real sector – the manufacturing industry – climbed 1.7% to 104.1, while the services index increased 1.1% to 116.8.