Spending plans unaffected by Bali bombing: Survey<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Consumer confidence in the country significantly dropped in
\nNovember following the Bali bombing, but the terrorist attack
\nfailed to impact consumers' shopping plans, according to a
\nsurvey.<\/p>\n
According to the survey by the Danareksa Research Institute,
\nthe Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) dropped by 4.8 percent to
\n94.1 in response to the bombings in Bali and Manado on Oct. 12,
\nwith confidence in East Java, the nearest province to Bali,
\nfalling the most by 8.0 percent from 107.8 to 99.2.<\/p>\n
\"People, concerned about their safety, are not sure what may
\nhappen next.<\/p>\n
\"Confusion mounted when a number of local 'pundits' introduced
\na variety of nebulous conspiracy theses that served to obscure
\nrather than illuminate the issue amid a mountain of sorrow and
\nfury among the victims' families in the aftermath of the terror
\nattack,\" the survey said.<\/p>\n
The index measuring confidence in the government sank to 103.2
\nfrom 108.3 on concerns over security issues, rising prices and
\nlax law enforcement.<\/p>\n
People expressed doubt about the government's ability to
\nprovide security, enforce the law or stabilize prices, it said.<\/p>\n
Of greatest concern is the inflation-depreciation cycle that
\nthreatens to erode purchasing power amid a wildly oscillating
\nrupiah, and the November year-on-year increase in prices from
\n10.3 percent to 10.5 percent.<\/p>\n
Confidence in the rupiah tumbled 9.2 percent to 65.4 percent.<\/p>\n
The government's quick and firm response in hunting down the
\nperpetrators of the Bali bombing helped to stabilize the currency
\nand to keep the erosion of confidence in check.<\/p>\n
As such, Danareksa said, erosion of confidence after the Bali
\nbomb blasts was relatively mild compared to the periods after the
\nJakarta floods in January this year and the Sept. 11 terrorist
\nattacks on the U.S in 2001.<\/p>\n
\"In fact, the onslaught in Bali did not alter the spending
\nintentions of shoppers over the next six months. The desire to
\nbuy durables remained unaffected as the percentage of shoppers
\nintending to purchase durables increased from 21.6 percent to
\nnearly 24 percent,\" it said.<\/p>\n
Confidence in the government's economic team to expand the
\ncountry's economy stayed nearly unharmed (the index only
\nretreated by 0.8 percent), while sentiment on the team's ability
\nto rebuild infrastructure rose (plus 0.9 percent), it said.<\/p>\n
\"The government seems to have learned its lesson from its
\nindecisiveness in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 event that saw
\nconfidence hammered by 7.8 percent,\" it said.<\/p>\n
The survey was carried out by AC Nielsen for Danareksa, based
\non a representative sample of at least 1,700 Indonesian
\nhouseholds across six different main areas of the country.<\/p>\n
The index ranges from 0 to 200. If the index is lower than
\n100, it means pessimistic responses outnumber optimistic
\nresponses, while the opposite holds true if the index is above
\n100.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/spending-plans-unaffected-by-bali-bombing-survey-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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