Indonesians see economic improvement next year

Indonesians see economic improvement next year

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesians are somewhat confident of the country's economic
recovery and are showing an increase in spending, according to a
survey released by AC Nielsen on Monday.

The Asia Pacific Consumer Confidence study, carried out in
October this year in 12 countries in the Asia-Pacific region,
shows that approximately 40 percent of Indonesians believe that
the local economy will improve within the next 12 months.

"The sentiment of consumers toward a better economic situation
is high, although it is still relatively low compared with other
countries in the region," said AC Nielsen Southeast Asia managing
director Farquhar Stirling.

He said that the results were quite interesting because,
although general elections were scheduled for next year, with
some people predicting economic instability Indonesians were
tending to be optimistic about economic recovery.

He also added that the recent survey result for Indonesia was
still higher compared with last May's 16 percent.

The highest confidence was shown by Indian consumers, at 89
percent, followed by Thailand with 84 percent. Korean and
Japanese people both have the lowest confidence in the region, at
31 percent.

The survey also shows that an increase in consumer confidence
leads to stronger spending. In Indonesia, the result states that
85 percent of Indonesians will spend their money after they have
covered essential living expenses. Nearly 90 percent of consumers
in other countries also said that they would rather spend their
money than save it or repay debts.

Last May's survey indicated most Indonesian consumers
preferred saving spare cash than spending it.

They spend their income mostly on new-technology products,
especially the latest electronic gadgets, such as mobile phones,
digital cameras and plasma TVs.

Summarizing the survey results, Farquhar said that consumers
across the region, including Indonesians, were generally more
confident about the economic outlook compared with six months
ago.

However, Farquhar said, the recent survey was conducted online
via the Internet, not by house-to-house visits as previously. So,
he added, the survey might not have represented the views of
Indonesians who lived in rural areas and did not have Internet
access.

The survey was carried out online on 7,230 consumers in 13
countries within the Asia-Pacific region, including Indonesia,
Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Hong Kong.