Indian consumer most confident since 2007: Nielson index

MUMBAI: It’s the return of consumer confidence for Indians. The country’s consumer confidence in the first quarter (Jan to March) of 2016 is back at pre-global recession level.
In Nielsen’s Consumer Confidence Index (CCI), India scored 134, which is up by three index points from last quarter and highest for the country since 2007. For the last three consecutive quarters, India’s CCI was stuck at 131.India is followed by Philippines at 119 and Indonesia at 117. The Nielsen CCI measures perceptions of local job prospects, personal finances and immediate spending intentions among more than 30,000 respondents with internet access in 63 countries throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East/Africa and North America. CCI above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism, respectively.
All confidence indicators on the job prospects, personal finances increased from the previous quarter, with job sentiment, personal finances and immediate spending intentions at consistently high levels. In the latest online survey, fielded March 1–23, 2016, 83% of urban Indian respondents indicated the highest level of optimism globally on job prospects — up by three index points since Q4 2015. Similarly, there was optimism abound when it came to the state of personal finances with 85% respondents stating the situation to be good or excellent (82% in Q4 2015).
“In India, the Budget presented at the end of February revealed the government’s commitment to fiscal consolidation as well as paving the way for sustained and inclusive growth,” said Roosevelt D’Souza, managing director, Nielsen India Region. “In the days following the announcement, an improvement in various macroeconomic indicators was evident, and the government seems to be on its way to achieving its objectives of low inflation, low interest rates and high GDP growth — a scenario optimal for improved consumer spending.”
Abneesh Roy, associate director - institutional equities - research analyst at Edelweiss Securities, said: "Though consumer optimism is at its highest level since 2011, discretionary spending levels are yet to see a big recovery; even while the confidence index was at 131 points discretionary spends were muted.''