Consumers upbeat on economy

Consumers upbeat on economy

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian ranks first on the rating of a
consumer confidence survey with 86.7 points, followed closely by
Malaysia and Singapore with 83 points each and Australia with 82
points.

The MasterIndex survey, carried out twice yearly by MasterCard
International, shows that those four nations rank at the top of nine
surveyed Asia-Pacific countries, including Hong Kong, Japan, South
Korea, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan.

According to the survey, the report of which was made available
over the weekend, Indonesians are even more optimistic about their
economy, stock market and quality of life than they were in the
MasterIndex survey released last June.

The survey, conceived at MasterCard University Asia/Pacific
Consumer Research group in Singapore and compiled by Price
Waterhouse, put Japan as the only country whose consumer confidence
is rated pessimistic with a score of 37.8, virtually unchanged from
last April.

Japan has consistently been the lowest scorer since the survey was
conducted for the first time two years ago. However, the MasterIndex
said the Japanese are more confident about their employment
prospects and quality of life these days.

Last year, Indonesia also shared the first rank with Malaysia at
89 points of rating, followed by Singapore at 83, South Korea and
Australia at 82 each. (rid)