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Household spending still weak next year: Economists
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Shoe boxes litter the floor of Matahari department store in Taman Anggrek shopping mall, West Jakarta, on Nov. 21, as shoppers overwhelmed the store prior its planned closure on Dec. 3. (Tempo/Vindry Florentin)
Several economists say people will still prefer keeping their money in banks next year.
“People will still prefer saving because they are waiting for government policies, especially those related to administered prices such as fuel prices, next year” Permata Bank economist Josua Pardede said as quoted by kontan.co.id, recently.
The increase of global crude oil prices is likely to push the government to increase the prices of subsidized fuels next year.
Josua also said people were anticipating possible food-price hikes in the next three months amid heavy downpours.
“The government needs to announce its policy for next year so as to not boost household spending,” he said.
Meanwhile, Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) director Enny Sri Hartati added that low consumer spending was sparked by negative sentiment over lack of employment opportunities in the next six months, as indicated by the Availability of Employment Expectations Index, which was stagnant at 120.9 in November.
“It means there was no significant addition of jobs in November,” Enny added.
A Bank Indonesia survey shows that the consumer confidence index in November stood at 122.1, an increase of 1.4 points from the figure in October, sparked by the better expectations index, which increased one point from 133.8 to 134.8.
Although there was optimism, the respondents’ spending allocation decreased 0.4 percent to 65.3 percent. (srs/bbn)
