Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – Indonesian consumers are becoming slightly more upbeat about the country's overall economic conditions as of July after months of weaker optimism, according to Bank Indonesia.
The central bank launched Thursday their July report for Indonesia's consumer confidence index (CCI). A reading of beyond 100 points means that Indonesians are confident in the country's economy, and data had shown that the country had always passed that optimistic mark over the past years.
However, Indonesia's CCI had been on a decline since May during which the index stood at 125.2. The CCI gradually fell to 123.3 points in June before it slightly rose to 123.4 the following month.
"Consumers are becoming more confident in today's economic conditions. They also remain optimistic about the future of our economy," the Bank Indonesia report reads.
Consumers who are 20-30 years old became the age group with the most positive outlook. Their CCI also rose from 126.8 in June to 128.9 the next month.
Most groups –based on their monthly spending– are more optimistic in the July reading. The biggest spenders –namely those who spend over Rp 5 million ($313.72) a month– become the only group who are losing faith in the economy as their CCI dropped from 130.3 in June to 123.2 in July.
Indonesia's current economic condition index (CECI) also went up to 113.5, compared to the 112.9 in the June reading. As the name suggests, CECI portrays the consumers' perceptions towards today's economic conditions by factoring in their income and the job availability. CECI also takes into account purchases of durable goods.
But Indonesians are less optimistic about how the economy will turn out over the next 6 months. Bank Indonesia reported that the consumer expectation index (CEI) fell from 133.8 in June to 133.3 in July.
The average propensity to consume ratio in July stood at 73.8 percent. In other words, an Indonesian consumer typically spent three-quarter of their income that month.
Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/business/indonesian-consumers-a-bit-more-upbeat-about-the-econom