TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Ramadan boosts consumer confidence, retail sales
Indonesian consumers expressed more favorable views about the state of the domestic economy in March, according to Bank Indonesia’s latest monthly report.
Change Size
Ramadan shopping: A visitor examines Muslim outfits on April 2, 2024, at a shop in Medan central market in North Sumatra. Garment sales increased three weeks into the Ramadan fasting month, traders said. (Antara/Fransisco Carolio)
T
he consumer confidence index, which measures Indonesians’ views on the overall economy and their own financial situation, increased by 0.7 points to a reading of 123.8 in March, Bank Indonesia’s (BI) latest monthly report shows.
According to the central bank’s survey, consumer confidence in March was boosted by consumers' more favorable assessment of current economic conditions. Meanwhile, consumers were slightly less optimistic in their expectations of future conditions.
Those two subindexes make up the headline index, and each of them has three subordinate components.
“The current economic conditions index increased across all of its components, particularly the current income index. Meanwhile, the consumer expectations index remained strong, supported by the income expectations index,” BI spokesman Erwin Haryono said in a statement published on Tuesday alongside the latest consumer confidence report.
Consumer confidence remained high across all expenditure categories, the BI report shows, with the highest level of optimism recorded among individuals spending between Rp 4.1 million (US$253) and Rp 5 million a month.
Furthermore, consumer confidence is particularly high among younger Indonesians, with those in the age group of 20 to 30 years expressing the greatest optimism and those above 60 being less optimistic.
Read also: Indonesians scale back spending in February amid election
