KUALA LUMPUR, April 24 — Consumers’ sentiments have returned after achieving a five-year low last quarter, but Malaysians are still more cautious about their future than a year ago.
In a report by the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) released today, it noted that consumers now have better expectations in job opportunities and their finances.
The public have also “come to term” to the reality of rising cost of life, MIER said.
“Given anticipation of more jobs and deeper pocketbooks, consumers’ shopping list for the coming months are also looking up, especially for big-ticket items like houses and cars,” said the report here.
According to the report, the Consumer Sentiments Index (CSI) is up 14.4 points from the last quarter to 96.8 points, but down 26.1 points against the same period in 2013.
A total of 85 per cent of respondents were concerned with inflation level in the next six months, down 7 percentage points from the quarter prior, but still up from 75 per cent in the same quarter last year.
“An all-time high of 23 per cent of the households interviewed are setting their sights on buying houses in the next quarter or two,” it said.
About 17 per cent of households are also looking forward to buy cars, up from 14 per cent in the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, demand for smaller household items are also expected to pick up in the coming months, except for television and washing machines.
In the previous quarter, 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.
The CSI survey polled 1,029 households from Peninsula Malaysia in conjunction with independent pollster Merdeka Center.
