Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Bank Indonesia revealed Monday that consumers were still quite upbeat about the country's overall economic conditions as of June, but data showed that Indonesians were not as confident as they used to be.

The central bank revealed Indonesia's consumer confidence index (CCI) had been on a decline. A reading of beyond 100 points means that Indonesian consumers are optimistic about the country's economic conditions. Indonesia's CCI had fallen from 127.7 in April to 125.2 the following month. Indonesian consumers were even less optimistic in the latest survey, as June's CCI reading dropped to 123.3.

Bank Indonesia reported that almost all groups – who were classified based on their monthly spending – were losing faith in the economy. The surveyed respondents who spent over Rp 5 million (around $307) a month were the only group who became more hopeful. This group's CCI score had gone up from 127.8 in May to 130.3 in June. For reference, the minimum wage in Jakarta stood at Rp 5 million, while it can go as low as Rp 2 million in other provinces.

"Our current economic condition index [CECI] reached 112.9 in June, while the consumer expectation index [CEI] stood at 133.8," the Bank Indonesia report reads.

The CEI measures how confident Indonesians are towards the economic conditions over the next 6 months. The index takes into account how they feel about their expected income, job opportunities, and business activities. But consumers were more optimistic about the future in May, during which CEI reached 135. However, the CEI in May was not as high as that of April, which stood at 136.

The CECI indicates what Indonesian consumers think of today's economic conditions by factoring in how much they earn and the available jobs in the labor market. The CECI also takes into account purchases of durable goods. But again, Indonesia's CECI had also been going down over the past months. The index went down from 119.4 in April to 115.4 in May before it fell to 112.9 in June.

According to Bank Indonesia, Indonesians spent about 73.9 percent of their income in June. May's average propensity to consume ratio stood at just 73 percent.

The survey's respondents totaled over 4,600 households spread across 18 major Indonesian cities, including Jakarta and Bandung.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/business/consumer-confidence-down-in-indonesi