Colombia: Consumer sentiment continues to slide in August
The Fedesarrollo consumer confidence index dropped to 4.7 points in August from 9.8 points in July, moving closer to the critical zero-point threshold separating optimism from pessimism among consumers. The drop in the index reflected a deterioration in almost all sub-components of the index.
While still in optimistic territory, respondents of the survey were less upbeat about the household’s prospects in the next 12 months and the country’s economic conditions over the next year. Respondents were also more pessimistic about their current economic situation compared to a year ago. Moreover, households’ outlook on the economy swung into pessimistic territory from optimistic terrain. On the upside, consumers had a higher propensity to purchase big-ticket items, such as furniture and appliances.