Malaysian consumer confidence at highest since 2015

The Business Conditions survey stated that Malaysian manufacturers were upbeat enering into the first quarter of the year, with the Mier Business Conditions Index (BCI) registering 112.7 points during the quarter, its highest in the past 10 quarters. The index rose by 31.5 points during the the quarter, reflecting optimism towards the economic environment in 2017, Mier said.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian consumer confidence showed signs of resilience in the second quarter of 2017 with an index score of 94 percentage points (pp), up seven points from Q2 2016, according to Nielsen's latest global survey of consumer confidence and spending.

Malaysia's consumer confidence displayed the highest increase across all Southeast Asian countries, and is now at its highest level since 2015.

The survey ranks Malaysia 28th in consumer confidence globally, but second lowest in Southeast Asia.

“This upward shift in sentiment is likely a result of the improvement in the key economic indicators, a stabilising currency and no major shocks in the system. However, while the index remains marginally below the neutral level, we see that any increase in consumer spending towards the second half of the year will be driven by continued positive economic news and price stability,” said Richard Hall, managing director of Nielsen Malaysia.

According to the findings, four out of six Southeast Asian countries in the survey appear in the top 10 list of countries with the highest consumer confidence levels. 

These are the Philippines (130pp), Indonesia (121pp), Vietnam (117pp) and Thailand (107pp). Singapore is ranked 31st globally with a score of 89pp. Consumer confidence levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism, respectively.