Indonesia's consumer confidence improved a notch in the first quarter of this year, compared to the previous quarter, with more than 20 percent of respondents in a recent survey believing they are doing better.

The Roy Morgan Indonesian Consumer Confidence Rating was 107.8, up 2.6 points from 105.2 in the final quarter of last year.

Thirty-nine percent of Indonesians say they are worse off than a year ago, a decrease of 1 percent on the previous quarter, while the number of respondents who believe they are better off increased by 1 percent to 21 percent.

In the first quarter, 73 percent of Indonesians considered it was a bad time to buy major household items, a drop of 3 percent, with only 20 percent saying it was a good time to buy, an increase of 2 percent.

"More bank accounts are being opened again, more people are getting loans for motorcycles but most consumers still feel the inflationary pressure on their weekly shopping basket," said Roy Morgan Research's regional director Debnath Guharoy.

Expectations of good economic conditions are up marginally when compared to the fourth quarter of 2005, with 62 percent (up 2 percent) expecting good times financially, while 38 percent expect bad economic conditions over the coming year, down 1 percent.

Looking ahead, 41 percent expect to be better off financially this time next year, up 1 percent, while 16 percent (also up 1 percent) expect to be worse off.

Indonesians are still positive about the long-term future, with 80 percent expecting good financial conditions over the next five years, an increase of 1 percent, and only 19 percent expecting bad economic conditions, a decline of 2 percent.

Roy Morgan Research interviews over 6,000 respondents across 16 provinces – covering over 90 percent of Indonesia's population aged 14 years and over – every 90 days. A total of 6,393 respondents were interviewed during January-March 2006.