June 9, 2015

Consumer sentiment fell slightly from the 41.5 recorded in April to 41.4 in May. The print was below the 41.9 that analysts had expected and represented a 3-month low. The consumer confidence index measures consumers’ expectations for the next six months on a scale of 0–100, where 100 indicates that all respondents see their living standards improving.



May’s result reflected a sharp deterioration in job conditions and a slightly downgrade in consumers’ willingness to buy durable goods. On the other hand, the overall livelihood and the income growth categories recorded increases. As a result, the government slightly downgraded its basic assessment of consumer confidence, stating that the pace of a pickup in consumer confidence is “becoming moderate.” In April, the government said consumer sentiment was “picking up.”

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect private consumption to rise 0.3% in 2015, which is unchanged from last month’s forecast. In 2016, the panel sees private consumption growing 1.3%.