Taiwanese consumers remained upbeat about the economy for the next six months and their recovering confidence brought sizable momentum compared with six months ago, the latest MasterCard survey showed.
In the Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence, Taiwan was one of 14 countries where confidence in the outlook for the next six months improved, MasterCard Worldwide said in a statement. The survey included 24 economies.
The biannual survey examines five indicators — employment, economy, quality of life, stock market and regular income — to gauge consumer perceptions of economic prospects over the next six months.
In Taiwan, the consumer confidence index rose to 56.5 points from 39.4 six months ago and 32.1 a year earlier. That compares with an average consumer confidence score of 66.3 points in Asia Pacific, which also improved from 38.7 in the previous poll, the MasterCard survey showed.
With a score of 50 as the dividing point between optimism and pessimism, Taiwanese consumers expressed optimism on the stock market (74.7 points), employment (57.0) and the economy (60.5), although pessimism remained on regular income (47.2) and quality of life (43.1), MasterCard said.
In particular, Taiwanese consumer optimism toward the stock market ranked No. 5 in the Asia-Pacific region and was most upbeat in the Greater China area, higher than those in China (74.2) and Hong Kong (63.2).
Based on data from the Taiwan Stock Exchange, the benchmark TAIEX has risen 71.1 percent since the beginning of this year to 7,856.00 yesterday, on the back of a rebounding global economy and improving cross-strait ties.
In the Asia-Pacific region, MasterCard said the three other economies that showed the most improvement in consumer confidence were Vietnam, with 90.1 points, China, at 85.3 points, and Singapore, at 79.4 points.
“The global economy started to stabilize in the second half of 2009 and conditions have improved fast, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. Overall robust rebound in consumer confidence in the region mirrors the progress in the real economy,” said Yuwa Hedrick-Wong (王月魂), a Singapore-based economic adviser to MasterCard Worldwide for the Asia-Pacific region.
Japan was the only economy where consumers continued to be mostly downbeat on the MasterCard indicators, with the overall reading slightly improving to 24.4 points this time from 21.5 six months ago and 17.2 a year earlier, far below the Asia-Pacific average of 66.3.
It was followed by the Philippines, where the consumer confidence index merely improved to 49.7 points from 40.5 six months ago and 40.0 points a year earlier, meaning that it remained pessimistic.
“While a V-shaped economic recovery remains unlikely, the same cannot be said for consumer confidence as it appears to be a V-shaped rebound in confidence … This will contribute to recovery momentum,” Wong said.
The MasterCard survey polled 10,623 people in 24 economies between Oct. 1 and Nov. 9.
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