KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 — After the series of price hike announcements last year, consumer confidence here plunged to its lowest point since the 2008 financial crisis, a local survey revealed today.

According to the Consumer Sentiments Index (CSI) for the fourth quarter of 2013 released by the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER), the index dipped below the 100-point threshold for the first time in almost five years.

The CSI plunged 36.3 points from the same period in 2012 to 82.4, which was also a 26-point fall from the previous quarter.

“Flagging finances head the list of minuses in the consumer outlook, while the labour market is expected to loosen further, putting a dent on real income growth,” said the report here.

“Consumer spending is, therefore, expected to remain modest, if not slower, in the coming months, in tandem with income.”

The report also noted that consumers will more likely be exercising financial prudence, moderation and prioritisation in order to stretch their ringgit further in 2014.

According to MIER, 92 per cent of respondents expect prices to rise soon, especially for those with lower incomes, staying in urban areas, or from the central region of Peninsular Malaysia.

The level of worry over price hikes was the highest since the inception of the survey, it said.

This comes as the survey found that only 15 per cent of households that responded said their finances improved in the quarter, the lowest since the first quarter of 2009.

Forty per cent of respondents also said that their finances have worsened, another low point since 2009.

Another survey showed that business confidence has similarly deteriorated in the same quarter, with MIER’s Business Confidence Index (BCI) also dipping under the 100-point threshold for the second time since the start of 2013.

The BCI fell 6.6 points from the previous quarter to 92.0 points in the fourth quarter of 2013.

According to the report, only 18 per cent of business respondents reported “good” sales in the quarter, compared to 30 per cent in the previous quarter.

All subsectors of manufacturing also registered drops, except for textile and clothing, non-metallic and heavy machinery, and transport.

The CSI survey polled 1,022 households from Peninsula Malaysia, while the BCI survey polled 300 business organisations.

MIER predicted that Malaysia’s inflation rate will steadily increase to 2.5 per cent in 2014, and to 3.5 per cent in 2015.