"Indonesia's consumer confidence index is relatively stable at 126 pp (percentage point) in the second quarter of 2019. Indonesian consumers are the third most optimistic in the world, preceded by India, (138 pp), and the Philippines (126 pp)," Managing Director of Nielsen Indonesia Agus Nurudin stated here on Wednesday.
Nurudin noted that the index was influenced by three indicators in the next 12 months, including consumer perceptions of job prospects.
"The index declined to 70 percent in the second quarter, from 72 percent in the previous period this year, which is relatively stable," he expounded.
During the same period, the consumer perception index over financial security also plunged to 80 percent, from 83 percent.
Spending optimism, the last indicator, increased to 61 percent compared to only 56 percent in the first quarter of 2019.
"With the stable index, it shows that the community is relatively calm, especially in terms of political stability. Levels for 'spending' are rising, so activity is fine," he affirmed.
He pointed to consumers in the Asia-Pacific region also remaining optimistic, with China, India, and Indonesia functioning as the main pillars of the Global Confidence Index, while Japan and Korea saw confidence move in opposite directions.
Nevertheless, Nurudin stated that despite the Indonesian consumer confidence index being stable, concerns rode high over the condition of Indonesia’s economy. It was noted that consumer concerns over the economic situation rose quite sharply to 37 percent during the Q2 of 2019 than 31 percent in the previous quarter of the same year.
"In the second quarter of 2019, increasingly more number of Indonesian consumers are concerned about economic conditions. It seems that this is the impact of the election, where consumers still sense that the post-election economic situation remains uncertain," he added.
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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi/Bambang Purwanto
Editor: Sri Haryati
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