Chinese consumer confidence declines

By Hu Xiaocen | April 2, 2014, Wednesday |

Online Edition

CONSUMER confidence fell in China for the third consecutive month as optimism about personal finances weakened to the lowest in seven months, a private report showed.

The monthly MNI Consumer Indicator dipped to 91.4 last month from 91.5 in February, Market News International, a unit of Deutsche Boerse Group, said in a report today.

Consumer confidence has fallen in recent months as weak economic data and concerns over the financial system have hurt sentiment.

“While sentiment was broadly stable in March, it is at its lowest since August last year. Given the weakening in the economy, consumers are increasingly concerned about their personal finances and the outlook for jobs,” said Philip Uglow, chief economist for MNI Indicators.

“The Chinese authorities need to try and rebalance the economy away from investment towards consumption. It will take time, though, for consumption to take up the slack, and could potentially be squeezed as a wider slowdown in activity hits sentiment and consumer spending,” he added.

The sub index that measures personal finance conditions took a hit amid growing concerns over the default of wealth management products and worries about overheating in the housing market. The current personal finance component declined to the lowest since August 2013, while expected personal finance was the weakest since July 2013.

Sentiment on the housing market was still positive but fell last month amid concerns about price sustainability. A rising number of respondents said house prices were too high and some warned they were likely to drop in the future.

Business Economy

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Chinese consumer confidence declines

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