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Consumer confidence hits one-year high
Consumer confidence has reached its highest level in a year, and the upbeat mood is buoying retail sales, according to two new data reports from Bank Indonesia.
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A young man plays with his smartphone while waiting for customers in front of his electronics shop in Jakarta on Jan. 19, 2018. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
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onsumer confidence has reached its highest level in a year, and the upbeat mood is buoying retail sales, according to two new data reports from Bank Indonesia (BI).
The consumer confidence index (CCI) published by the central bank on Monday showed a reading of 128.3 for May, the highest level seen since May last year.
“Rising consumer confidence in May 2023 was boosted by the current economic conditions [subindex] and the consumer expectations [subindex],” wrote BI spokesperson Erwin Haryono in a press statement released on Monday.
Consumer confidence is partly based on people’s assessments about inflation and economic activity, both of which have been improving in the country.
As revealed last week, headline inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), dropped to 4 percent year-on-year (yoy) in May, the lowest level in 12 months, and down from 4.33 percent logged in April.
CPI growth now sits exactly at the upper limit of BI's target range of 2 to 4 percent, beating the central bank’s own initial expectation of reaching that milestone only in the third quarter of this year.
Indonesia’s economic activity, meanwhile, also outshone market estimates, as the country booked gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.03 percent yoy in the first quarter. That marked a marginal improvement over the preceding quarter and beat most other economies in the world.
