Consumer sentiment improved during the 3rd Quarter of the year as the overall confidence index increased to negative 13.3 percent from negative 19.5 percent in Q2, boosted primarily by more available jobs and higher income among households, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said in its Consumer Expectations Survey.
This is the second highest reading recorded since the nationwide CES started in 2007, the BSP said.
The BSP surveyed a total of 5,604 households from July 2 to 13 nationwide for the study.
The bank said that the higher CI means that the number of households with an optimistic outlook on the economy has increased but the majority of the respondents still thought otherwise.
Those who viewed the economy as rosy cited factors like the greater availability of jobs and more employment both local and abroad, higher income and lower household expenses due to expectations of broadly stable prices, and good harvests, the BSP said.
The same consumers told the BSP they are more confident that their upbeat sentiment on employment, investments and income will continue to the next 12 months.
The high-income group posted the most favorable outlook across such indicators as the country’s economic condition, family financial situation and family income, with the CI on family income reaching a record high of 36 percent, the BSP said.
It also said that the middle-income group and low-income group also registered more optimistic outlooks during Q3.
The BSP study showed that fewer households expected their expenditures on goods and services to go up in the 4th Quarter of the year, relative to the last quarter’s survey.
The CES samples were drawn generated using a stratified multi-stage probability sampling scheme from the National Statistics Office’s Master Sample List of Households, which is considered a representative sample of households nationwide, the BSP said.*PP
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