LONDON (MNI) – GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index slipped back in
March to the negative levels seen through the second half of 2011 before
the slight uptick seen in January, with all the key components of the
survey seeing a fall.
The overall index score fell to -31 from -29 in February.
The March climate for major purchases score fell to -31 from
-27 in February, and the general economic situation over the next
12 months score fell to -30 from -29.
The personal financial situation scores were sharply lower.
The score for personal finances over the past 12 months fell to -25
from -21, and over the next 12 months it fell to -10 from -6.
Nick Moon, Managing Director of Social Research in GfK, comments:
“These figures make depressing reading for the government, especially
when you consider that the index has been mired within a couple of
points of the present position for the last nine months”.
“Consumer confidence has returned to the weak levels of the second
half of 2011, emphasising just how fragile the improvement in January
and February was.
“The index shows that consumers are becoming increasingly
pessimistic about their personal economic circumstances over the next
twelve months, a worrying sign for the already hard-pressed retail
sector. With this month’s budget unlikely to have a positive impact on
consumer spending, shops will be hoping that the bumper summer of the
Diamond Jubilee weekend and the Olympics can bounce people from their
present malaise.”
The survey – along with other recent data releases – will provide
further disconcerting reading for the Monetary Policy Committee of the
Bank of England and undermines optimism that the economy could be set
on a recovery path, however moderate.
–London newsroom 44207 862 7492; email: dthomas@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$B$$$,MABDS$]
