CONFIDENCE CRUNCH
ZEENAT MOORAD: How we should understand consumer confidence
How retail CEOs think December's ANC elective conference will change the country's economic trajectory
I got to thinking the other day about consumer confidence and how it affects what (and how much) we buy. It by no means is the "whole story", but it is a key gauge of household mind-sets and spending intentions as a trend over time. I’d been chatting to two retail CEOs who are both of the opinion that the outcome of the ANC’s elective conference in December could change the country’s economic trajectory. Plainly put, consumer confidence measures the degree of optimism (or pessimism) that consumers feel about the overall economy and their income stability. This then affects their personal financial situations. Even though the economy has exited its second recession in almost a decade, confidence levels remain weak, as does the underlying pace of activity. Diminished willingness to spend — on anything other than essentials — means that growth in retail sales will remain subdued for the rest of the year. The current low levels of confidence in SA are strongly linked to political contro...
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