The drop in the consumers confidence index is due to a decline in the consumers perception, especially with regards to income and purchase of durable goods, according to the central banks statistics published on Wednesday.
The Economic Condition Index (IKE) in April 2016 dropped 1.9 points to 94.7 from March 2016.
"Consumers perception towards income is down 4.6 points while perception towards punctuality in purchase dropped by 1.8 points," it said.
Consumers perception towards job supply, however, rose 0.7 points to 80 in April from 79.3.
The conclusions were made based upon a survey of 4,600 households in 18 cities.
According to BI, consumers perception towards the economy lessened, especially in nine cities, with the biggest drop recorded in Manado, North Sulawesi (down by 15 points) followed by Banjarmasin (8.7 points).
Based upon community groups, the sharp decline in perception happened in the community with a spending power between Rp4 million and Rp5 million per month.
Although consumers perception was down in April, they remained optimistic about the economic prospects for the next two quarters.
The Consumers Expectation Index (IEK) in April reached 123.3 points, up 0.1 point from March 2016, due to consumers perception towards job supply in April which was up 2.3 points to 105 from March.
According to BI, people still believe prices will increase in July as reflected by the Price Expectation Index which was up 2.6 points to 174.
The pressure is driven by expectation of a price increase in the clothing and food groups due to a rising demand ahead of the Islamic holiday of Ied al-Fitr, 2016.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
