Consumers more upbeat in Q4

MANILA, Philippines - Consumer sentiment was more upbeat in the fourth quarter than in the previous three months as Filipinos expect an increase in the availability of jobs and business activity, as well as stable commodity prices, according to the latest Consumer Expectations (CES) survey conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Teresita Deveza, deputy director at the BSP’s Department of Economic Statistics, said the consumer confidence index (CCI) improved to -21.8 percent from -26.3 percent. The index is computed as the percentage of respondents who said they felt better off during the period than in the past less the percentage of pessimistic respondents.

“Their improved outlook during the current quarter was due to expectations of stable prices of commodities, availability of more jobs and increase in the number of employed family members, and good harvests,” Deveza said.

“This is also because of expected additional income or higher salary due to the receipt of Christmas bonus and thirteenth month pay, and brisker business activity leading to higher household income,” she added.

“Consumers’ confidence on the country’s economic condition improved in the current quarter and next quarter but weakened for the year ahead,” Deveza said.

For the next quarter, the index settled at 0.7 percent from -1 percent in the previous quarter, while the confidence index for the whole year slid to 9.6 percent from 9.7 percent.

“Consumers anticipated their family financial conditions to be more favorable for the current quarter and next quarter and to be stable for the year ahead compared to the previous quarter’s survey results,” Deveza said.

“Their outlook on family income in the current quarter was broadly unchanged but improved for the next quarter and the year ahead,” she continued.

The survey showed that the number of households with savings fell to 25.7 percent in the fourth quarter from 26.9 percent in the previous three months.

“According to respondents, they save money for... emergencies, health and hospitalization, retirement, education, and business capital and investment,” Deveza said.

For spending, the respondents had a “broadly steady” outlook on basic goods and services, Deveza said.

“This indicates that respondents who expect to spend more on goods and services outnumbered those who said otherwise, but the number that said so remained unchanged from the previous quarter’s survey results as expectations on family finances increased,” Deveza said.

The latest survey covered 6,389 households and was conducted from Oct. 1 to 11.