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Consumer confidence gives back some recent gains
Bank Indonesia’s latest survey shows that Indonesians felt less optimistic in February about their future business or employment prospects.
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People look at second-hand and new clothes sold at the JakCloth festival in Jakarta on May 1, 2021. (JP/Sylviana Hamdani)
B
ank Indonesia’s (BI) latest survey shows that Indonesians felt less optimistic in February about their future business or employment prospects.
The BI consumer confidence index declined to a reading of 113.1 points last month, retreating from 119.6 in January.
However, the latest data still reflect a generally positive mood, as any reading above 100 is considered optimistic, while readings below that threshold are defined as pessimistic.
“Consumers were slightly less upbeat in February 2022 due to more subdued expectations of future economic conditions in terms of income, job availability and business activity,” according to a press release published by BI on Wednesday.
“At the same time,” the central bank noted, “consumer perception of current economic conditions was hampered by a surge of COVID-19 cases and tighter community activity restrictions (PPKM) in various regions of the Indonesian archipelago.”
The pullback comes after the index had been on a rising trend, with the headline figure rising from a low of 77.3 in August 2021 to 119.6 in January 2022. Both subindexes – one measuring consumers’ impressions of current conditions, the other capturing their expectations for the future – declined in February.
