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.
RI consumer confidence improving
Consumer confidence in Indonesia continued to be strong in the second quarter, growing by 8
Change Size
C
onsumer confidence in Indonesia continued to be strong in the second quarter, growing by 8.5 percent from the previous three-month period, a survey reveals.
The consumer confidence index in Indonesia reached 112.1 points in the second quarter, 8.5 percent higher than the previous quarter, the Nielsen Company Indonesia said Thursday in its latest survey.
A number of factors contributed to strengthening the consumer confidence indicator, notably benign inflation, smooth-running elections and a growing economy, the survey found.
The figure is the highest among 28 countries surveyed by the company, as well as being higher than China’s — the world’s fastest-growing economy, — 94.4 points in the second quarter. The survey polled 14,029 online consumers in 28 countries late June.
“Consumer confidence in Indonesia is highly correlated with inflation. When we have high inflation, consumers tend to react with low confidence ratings,” said executive director for consumer research, Catherine Eddy.
“2009 has been a good year for consumers from a price perspective, especially compared with 2008, when households were really doing it tough with double digit increases in many categories.”
Year-on-year inflation in June fell to a nine-year low hitting only 3.65 percent, according to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data, with the government expecting full-year inflation to reach a meager 4.5 percent.
Another factor supporting consumer confidence was the relatively trouble-free legislative and presidential elections, which cemented political stability, and eventually strengthened the country’s economy.
“2009 is an election year and again, historically, we have seen very oyant consumption when there is a presidential election in the offing.”
“The previous presidential elections [2004] saw high levels of consumer confidence and the July election in Indonesia came and went without any incident,” Catherine said, adding that people were feeling confident in the political stability of Indonesia and this consequently boded well for the economy.
The survey also stated the robu st consumer confidence was reflected partly in the relatively healthy growth in retail trade and a significant rise in household spending.
“The value of the retail market on a year-to-date basis to May 2009 grew close to 7 percent compared to the same period last year. Our Household Consumer panel shows a double digit growth in household expenditure,” said Catherine.
Overall, the survey found Indonesia had been left relatively unscathed by the global financial crisis.
“The Indonesian economy is more heavily reliant on domestic consumption than many of its neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN], so this has provided some protection from the impacts of slowing export figures,” she said. However, the survey did not explain whether the latest bombing attack in Indonesia would affect consumer confidence in the third quarter.
“We do not know at this point the impact of the July 17 bombing on the confidence of the population. However, previous surveys have suggested that terrorism tends to rate as more of a concern for its neighbors than for Indonesia itself.” The survey was carried out between June 15-19 and polled 14,029 consumers in Europe, Asia Pacific, North America and the Middle East. (naf)
JP/Irma
