Taiwan consumer confidence up in September

2014-10-01

Taiwan’s Consumer Confidence Index inched up 0.1 of a point from a month ago to 83.16 in September, showing the economy continues to recover, according to Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development at National Central University Sept. 29.

The center said the benchmark hit a record high of 88.17 in July, but came down last month after the propylene-triggered explosions in Kaohsiung and a gutter oil scandal caused concern among consumers.

“The latest results show that the negative impact of the incidents is wearing off,” RCTED Director Dachrahn Wu said.

The latest RCTED poll shows that three of the six subindexes, which reflect consumers’ expectations over the next six months, rose over the previous month.

Employment outlook led at 109.95, up 1.58 points from August. This was followed by household finances, up 0.55 of a point to 76.85, while economic outlook came in third at 77.75, up 0.35 of a point.

Durable goods purchases posted the biggest decline of 0.75 of a point to 106.2, while stock market investment and consumer prices dropped 0.7 and 0.45 of a point to 83.4 and 44.8, respectively.

Wu said the drop in durable goods purchases can be attributed to homebuyers’ anticipation of a rise in interest rates adding to the costs of real estate property transactions. “But the level is still above the 100-point benchmark, indicating that market sentiment remains optimistic.”

Similarly, Wu said the decline in the stock investment index is likely a temporary retreat as valuations have climbed to relatively high levels, rather than due to bearish sentiment.

The nationwide survey, conducted by phone Sept. 19-21 on 2,438 randomly selected adults over the age of 20, has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points at a confidence level of 95 percent.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=222220&CtNode=413)