MANILA – Consumer confidence in the country’s economy has turned negative in the third quarter of 2018, the first time since it turned positive in the second quarter of 2016.
“After eight quarters of positive consumer reading, the overall confidence index (Cl) reverted to negative territory at -7.1 percent from 3.8 percent for second quarter 2018,” Redentor Paolo Alegre Jr., head of the BSP’s Department of Economic Statistics, said in a press conference.
“The negative index indicates that the pessimists outnumbered the optimists for third quarter 2018,” Alegre said.
The CI is computed as the percentage of households that answered in the affirmative minus the percentage of households that answered in the negative with respect to their views on a given indicator.
The consumer index measures the average direction of change regarding three indicators:
- overall condition of the economy
- household finances
- and household income
Results of the Consumer Expectations Survey (CES) showed that respondents attributed their negative responses to:
- higher commodity prices
- low salary/income
- higher household expenses
- high unemployment rate
- no increase in income
“Respondents also noted concerns on higher educational expenses and higher transportation expenses as reasons behind their gloomy prospects,” Alegre said.
Inflation clocked in at 6.4 percent in August, the fastest since March 2009 when it settled at 6.6 percent.
Amid the pessimistic outlook of consumers on the economy, BSP deputy governor Diwa Guinigundo assured that the government will do all means possible to make the inflation go back within the government’s target range of 2 to 4 percent by 2019.
“Ang inflation ay magsisimula nang bumaba sa last quarter of the year. Hindi lang issues ng monetary ang problema ngayon, ang problema ay dahil ang pinanggagalingan ng pagtaas ay nandoon sa supply: bigas, karne, langis, maging ang transportasyon,” Guinigundo said.
“Ang gobyerno po ay nakapag pahayag ng measures upang ito ay mabigyan ng solusyon,” he said.
President Duterte’s economic managers earlier said they will implement immediate reforms to address food inflation.
The third quarter CES was conducted on July 1 to 14, covering a sample size of 5,580 households in Metro Manila and areas outside the National Capital Region.
Of the sample size, 5,408 households responded to the survey, equivalent to a response rate of 96.9 percent. (GMA News)
