Consumer confidence rises

Consumer confidence has reached its best level since the middle of 2013, when the domestic economy grew at one of its fastest rates on record, as Filipinos expected more jobs to become available, a new survey showed.

Results of the central bank’s latest consumer expectations survey also showed the Aquino administration’s graft-busting efforts bearing fruit.

Respondents said less corruption in government, coupled with various social welfare programs, would lift living conditions in the current quarter.

Senior Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) officials said the improvement in consumer confidence should translate to faster domestic consumption growth, providing a boost to economic expansion.

“Both are well-correlated. This gives us more of a feel of the direction for household consumption,” Managing Director Francis Dakila Jr., head of economic research at the BSP, said during a press conference.

The consumer confidence index for the third quarter improved to -11.6 percent from -16.2 percent in the previous three months.

This was the best result since the third quarter of 2013, when consumer confidence stood at -7.9 percent.

Philippine gross domestic product (GDP), two-thirds of which is accounted for by consumer spending, grew by 7 percent in the third quarter of 2013.

Among the reasons for this quarter’s improvement were the expectations of more jobs being available in the country, stronger business activities and better harvests.

Respondents also cited higher levels of government assistance, thanks to the state’s conditional cash transfer program, as well as less corruption and good governance, the BSP said.

The confidence index is the difference between the number of pessimists and optimists.

The negative number means most households surveyed were pessimistic.

The central bank started measuring consumer confidence in 2004, and the index has never been in positive territory.

Conducted from July 1 to 15 of this year, the latest survey covered 5,894 households. About half of the homes surveyed were in Metro Manila, while the rest were from other regions.

The BSP said 14.5 percent of respondents were from high-income homes, 37 percent were middle-income, and the rest were low-income.