SINGAPORE - Consumer confidence has dropped again this month, according to the ANZ-Roy Morgan Singapore Consumer Confidence Index, which saw a month-on-month decrease of three points to 126.4.
Respondents who said that their families are "better off" financially than they were a year ago fell from 29 per cent to 27 per cent. Meanwhile, 8 per cent said that they are "worse off", up from 7 per cent previously.
In terms of how they viewed their prospects, the proportion of respondents who said they expect their family to be "better off" next year dipped from 36 per cent to 33 per cent, while 6 per cent expect to be "worse off" by then, compared with 4 per cent in June.
When it comes to the national economy, 51 per cent of respondents expect Singapore to have "good times" financially over the next 12 months. However, the proportion who anticipate "bad times" grew from 7 per cent to 10 per cent as well.
This is the second month running that confidence has fallen, according to the ANZ-Roy Morgan index.
Mr Glenn Maguire, ANZ chief economist for South Asia, Asean and Pacific, attributed the drop to global uncertainty over the Greek debt crisis and the stock market fluctuations in China.
He said that SG50 National Day celebrations were expected to nudge consumer sentiment upward, but "in the medium term, we are less certain on the direction confidence is likely to evolve. The national elections will be called in the next few months, property prices are continuing to decline and wage pressures are unevenly distributed".
Remarking on the implications of a potential drop in consumer confidence, Mr Maguire added: "At the present time, Singapore's economic weakness has predominantly been led by the manufacturing sector. A weaker consumer, in that context, would be an unwelcome development."
