Consumer confidence plummets in fourth quarter as household income stalls
The FNB/BER Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) slumped to -10 in the fourth quarter of 2016. The drop comes after the CCI rebounded from -11 index points in the second quarter of the year to -3 in the third. FNB said consumer sentiment had been consistently below the CCI’s long-term average reading 4 since the second half of 2014. Senior economic analyst at FNB Jason Muscat said the positive economic developments that boosted CCI in the third quarter faded towards the end of the year. He said the 7-index point decline was likely to be a correction following an overshoot in the third quarter, The CCI in the third quarter benefited from a drop in the petrol price, and a modest recovery in job creation supported consumers’ purchasing power and confidence levels. CCI was also helped along by peaceful, free and fair municipal elections in early August. But those factors where not the case in the fourth quarter. "The economic realities of weak household income growth, poor credit extension a...
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