According to Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions, Malaysia has snapped the 28th spot for the most confident country globally for the second quarter of 2016. Previously in the first quarter, Malaysia was in the 36th position, but has now improved 8 spots, reported Nielsen, a global performance management firm.
Nielsen Malaysia Country manager Richard Hall stated that, Malaysia has faced currency devaluation and had endured the first year of the goods and services tax (GST) without the economy facing major downturn.
Thus, the consumer confidence outlook is improving with more Malaysians believing the economy is becoming sturdier than it was a year ago.
Among the major concerns of Malaysians are economy (45%), job security (25%), as well as positive take on local job prospects (36%) for the next 12 months.
Meanwhile, almost half of the respondents have a positive view of their personal finances (48%) in the coming year, despite the lethargic market.
“The government’s recent move to reduce the mandatory 11% Employees Provident Fund contribution to 8%, coupled with the increase in the minimum wage has also improved and boosted consumer spending power,” he noted.
Mangalesri Chandrasekaran, Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email mangales@propertyguru.com.my
