British consumers remain cautious over year ahead
BRITISH consumers are still cautious about the future for both their personal finances and the general economic situation, the latest consumer confidence survey from GfK NOP will show today.
The overall consumer confidence index dipped by one point in April to -16, but is still well above last April’s figure of -27. The uptick in the economy is reflected in consumers feeling more confident about the situation over the past year.
Although consumers have generally felt happier about both their own finances and the general economy in the past 12 months, the GfK survey shows that they are more worried about the future.
The sub-index which measures consumers’ confidence in their personal finances over the next year dropped to +2 from +4. The index which measures consumers’ expectations for the general economic situation slipped back into negative territory this month to -1 from zero last month.
Nick Moon, managing director of GfK NOP Social Research, said: “As the opinion polls are suggesting, the government has not got the boost from a rise in economic confidence that probably represented its best hope of retaining power.”
He added: “While things are far better than they were a year ago the improvement has pretty much stalled, and there has been no real change in consumer confidence since last September.
There has also been a sharp drop in the score for now being a good time to make major purchases.