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Consumer confidence plunges to lowest level in 12 years
Bank Indonesia’s consumer confidence index has dropped to 77.3 as a seemingly endless COVID-19 pandemic stokes fear about jobs and income.
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A shopping mall in Bogor, West Java, prepares to welcome back visitors following the easing of public activity restrictions (PPKM) from level 4 to level 3 on Aug. 21. Only vaccinated visitors are allowed to enter malls, which can operate at a limited capacity. (Antara/Arif Firmansyah)
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onsumers, long the driving force behind Indonesia’s emerging economy, have turned more pessimistic as a seemingly endless COVID-19 pandemic stokes fear about jobs and income.
Bank Indonesia’s (BI) consumer confidence index fell to 77.3 in August, the lowest since at least 2012, according to BI data published Wednesday. Values below 100 signify pessimism while higher readings denote optimism.
The index had climbed into optimistic territory before the government tightened mobility restrictions in response to a surge in cases and deaths this summer, but the latest reading puts it even below the 77.8 seen in May 2020, just two months into the pandemic in Indonesia.
“The Bank Indonesia consumer survey for August indicates that consumer confidence about economic conditions remains under pressure, in line with the continuation of the mobility restrictions policy during the survey period aimed at fighting the spread of the delta COVID-19 variant,” BI spokesman Erwin Haryono was quoted in a press release as saying on Wednesday.
Read also: Emergency curbs reverse recovery in consumer confidence, retail sales
The government has been gradually relaxing the restrictions as daily new COVID-19 cases and deaths have begun to decline, allowing shopping centers to reopen.
The further dip in the index was driven by negative public perceptions of economic conditions, as reflected in the present situation subindex, which declined to 59.4 in August from 67.1 a month earlier.
