June 13, 2016

In May, the Universidad Torcuato di Tella (UTDT) consumer confidence index continued on the downward trend that started in November of last year. The index decreased from 43.2 in April to 42.7 in May, which marked the lowest reading since September 2014. As a result of the decrease, the index is even further below the 50-point-threshold separating pessimistic from optimistic sentiment. Lately, confidence among consumers has been negatively affected by the reforms that the Macri administration is undertaking, which have led to massive job cuts and the high rate of inflation.



In May, most of the sub-indices remained in negative territory. Consumers continued to be pessimistic regarding their personal finances today compared to a year ago. However, consumers’ perceptions regarding the country’s economic situation and the perspectives for one and three years ahead improved compared to the previous month’s result. In addition, in May, the sub-index representing consumers’ willingness to make major purchases improved slightly over April’s figure.

Panelists surveyed for the LatinFocus Consensus Forecast see private consumption expanding 0.8% in 2016, which is up 0.1 percentage points from last month’s forecast. For 2017, panelists expect consumption to increase 0.4%.