Peru: Consumer confidence slips further at the beginning of the year
The consumer confidence indicator published by GfK slipped further in January, coming in at 91. The result is marginally down from 92 in the prior month and thus moved further below the crucial 100-point threshold that indicates pessimism among Peruvian consumers. Consumers remained markedly pessimistic because of the impact of the recent political crisis; they also broadly believed that the government is not taking sufficient measures to revive the economy. Confidence dropped in the south and in the center of the country, while it remained unchanged in Lima and improved somewhat in the north and in the eastern areas.
Respondents largely perceived the economy to be growing, but at a softer pace than before. The number of respondents who believed growth has stalled declined slightly from December, however. Moreover, the number of households who expected that their personal economic situations would improve in the next 12 months increased. On the other hand, the number of households that expressed discontent with the government’s actions rose slightly, to almost two thirds of respondents. Furthermore, fewer households expected economic growth to pick up pace.