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Consumer confidence index drops on political, economic concerns: survey

"Political figures have been preoccupied with next year's presidential election and few of their blueprints really present `beef' to better people's livelihoods."

Day Jaw-yang, Taiwan Research Institute deputy director

Disappointed with political infighting and the nation's weakening competitiveness, consumer sentiment this month weakened to the lowest level in more than five years, a report released by National Central University said yesterday.

The consumer confidence index (CCI) dropped to 67.12, down 0.82 percentage points from last month. This was the lowest since November 2001, when the index was at 60.91, the university's Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development said in the report.

The monthly survey gauges public expectations on stock performance, household finances, durable goods, job opportunities, consumer price fluctuations and the economic outlook over the next six months.

The six sub-indices all showed decreases, reflecting respondents' growing concerns in the near future.

The biggest drop was recorded in stock performances, which fell 2.5 percentage points to 71, with 60.6 percent of respondents saying they would stay away from stock investments.

It was followed by consumer price fluctuations, which edged down 1.2 percentage points to 38.5.

The other four showed falls of less than 1 percentage point each.

A CCI figure of less than 100 points indicates public pessimism about the outlook for the next six months, while a score of between 100 and 200 points demonstrates optimism, the center said.

This pessimism is driven by perceptions that policymaking has been poor and competitiveness has not increased, said Day Jaw-yang (戴肇洋), a deputy director at the Taiwan Research Institute (台綜院).

"Political figures have been preoccupied with next year's presidential election and few of their blueprints really present `beef' to better people's livelihoods," he said during a telephone interview.

"People are worried whether the sizzling real estate sector, the economic pillar over the past two years, will burst. No wonder public sentiment is low," Day said.
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