Consumer Index To Lowest Point In Three Years

[george]

Slowing growth sends index to lowest point in three years

BANGKOK: -- Consumer confidence in July reached its lowest point in three years as rising fuel prices and concern over the economic slowdown weighed further on public sentiment.

The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) in July was 84.7, down from 85.7 in June and the lowest reading since June 2002, according to the monthly survey of 2,237 respondents by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.

The survey also found that consumers were less confident in the economic situation and future income, leading to mounting reluctance to spend on durable goods such as vehicles and houses and a tendency to travel less, according to Thanavath Phonvichai, director of the university's Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting.

The CCI is a set of indices measuring public sentiment with regard to the overall economy, job opportunities and future income. A score of 100 is the norm, reflecting a general feeling of confidence.

The indices for the overall economy, future income and job opportunities in July were 79.4, 96.0 and 78.6, down from 80.5, 96.9 and 79.6 in June, respectively.

Mr Thanavath said he was concerned that low consumption would continue through the last quarter of the year as negative factors _ especially rising fuel costs, the slowdown in tourism and unrest in the three provinces in the deep South _ continued to dominate the news.

Consequently, he suggested that manufacturers adjust marketing campaigns to cope with possible sales declines in the coming months.

Mr Thanavath said that there were still some measures the government could adopt to help improve consumers' confidence.

They include speeding up budget disbursements, helping to reduce the cost of living by curbing consumer product prices, and accelerating exports.

--Bangkok Post 2005-08-12

[OldAsiaHand]

The headline here is quite misleading. It's not the SET index that is down, it's the Consumer Confidence Index. Quite on the contrary, the SET has been up fairly strongly since the Chinese currency surprise. There's not any good reason for that, you understand, but it's up anyway.

[george]

Headline fixed. Thanks for heads up!

Cheers!