Irish consumer sentiment dips from 2-year high

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish consumer sentiment in July dipped below the two-year high it hit in June on concerns about the economic outlook, but it remained at its third highest level of 2021, a survey showed on Friday.

The KBC Bank Ireland consumer sentiment index slipped to 84.9 in July from 87.2 in June, with the general economic outlook subindex falling to 44.9 from 49.3.

The slippage follows a steady increase in the index since January as the country slowly eased COVID-19 restrictions. Indoor restaurant dining and drinking are set to resume next week.

"Consumers seem to be increasingly conscious of some gathering clouds in the economic sky," including fears of higher inflation, complications with the reopening and concerns about the Delta variant, KBC Ireland chief economist Austin Hughes said.

"We would not interpret the July reading as signalling a notably darker mood among Irish consumers," Hughes said.

(Reporting by Conor Humphries, Editing by William Maclean)