Consumer sentiment falls to all-time low

• If our beloved PM or 2nd Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop still telling us that Malaysia economy is doing good and well managed, we should ask them to walk out from their air-condition room and go to the ground. See how people feels and their suffering due to the enormous oil price hike executed by government recently.

• Just look at the latest consumer price index. It has hit all time low i.e 70.5 , even lower than 1997-98 when the country was hit by financial crisis. If Malaysia has "misery index" I cannot imagine what will be the score looks like.

• Come on, Pak Lah, time is running short, please do something now . Rakyat are getting frustrated and our patient is running short.

Read on for the "misery" story.....................

Mier report: Current and future conditions causing concern

Prof. Datuk Mohamed Ariff Kareem

KUALA LUMPUR: Consumer sentiment has sunk to an all-time low over concerns surrounding domestic and global uncertainties.

The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (Mier) said its consumer sentiments index (CSI) slumped to a reading of 70.5 - 8.6 points lower than the previous low seen in the second quarter of 1998 when the Asian financial crisis was in full swing - as deteriorating household incomes head the list of minuses in the consumer outlook.

The reading of 70.5 points (any point below 100 indicates a bearish sentiment)showed the economy was slowing down considerably.

“Consumer spirits in the second quarter sag on fears about current conditions and the future.

“They have been counting on a mix of favourable job markets, steady inflation, and sound business growth to continue through the short term but these events have taken a different turn this quarter,'' said Mier in its quarterly report on its CSI.

The report said 44% of households surveyed said their finances had deteriorated and the group feeling the pinch the most was the middle income group from the northern and central regions of the country.

In the second quarter, only 18% of the surveyed households saw an improvement in their finances, the lowest polled in two years.

Consumers were also pessimistic over conditions in the job market, with only 22% of those polled - a six-year low - believing that employment prospects were plentiful.

“A two-year high of 87% of the respondents expressed concerns over the rising price level,'' said Mier in the report.

While consumers were bearish, businesses were a lot more optimistic.

Mier said its business conditions index (BCI), although lower in the second quarter, was still above 100-point threshold, which at 114.1 indicated an expansion of sentiment.

It said of the eight component indices that made up the BCI, five had experienced quarter-on-quarter declines.

These were sales, production volumes, capital investment, expected production and expected export sales.

“Domestic orders and export orders were marginally up while capacity utilisation remained unchanged,'' said Mier.

For the third quarter, Mier has forecast the BCI to be affected by lower local and foreign sales, lower production and lower employment growth; and prices are set to increase.