Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — A recent survey by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas revealed a more morose consumer outlook for the second quarter of 2015. In its Q2 Consumer Expectations Survey, the central bank found that the overall confidence index (CI) fell to -16.2% from an already bearish -10% during the first three months of the year.
The outlook was driven by the anticipated increase of commodity prices, the expected increase of unemployment, and perceived graft and corruption in the government.
However, more consumers (30.3%) believe that the second quarter is a favorable time to buy “big ticket” items — real estate, automobiles, and other consumer durables — compared to the 28.$% in the first three months of the year. The sentiment was driven primarily by optimism with the real estate sector. Likewise, such indices posted all-time high figures since the start of the nationwide survey 2007.
Households with savings also reached an all-time high in the second quarter. About 33.9% of them saved their money, compared to the previous all-time high of 31.6% in the first quarter. Those in the high-income group saw the biggest increase.
Emergencies, education, and health and Hospitalization , respectively, were the top three reasons for consumer savings. The BSP noted that more than two-thirds (68.8%) of household savers had bank deposit accounts, while 38.3% of the aggregate kept their savings at home. Another 22.6% of the goal placed their money in cooperatives and other credit/loan associations.
Looking ahead, consumers are slightly pessimistic with the next three months, with a CI of -0.4%. The figure is a reversal from the 4.4% in the previous quarter. Most expressed concerns over perceived graft and corruption in the government, expected typhoons and calamities, and the El Niño phenomenon. However, CI for the next twelve moths remains broadly steady at 16.4%, from 17.3% in the previous survey.
