Consumers expected to be down in the dumps before polls
Consumer confidence index, compiled by FNB and the Bureau for Economic Research at Stellenbosch University, will be released on Thursday and is expected to drop
As consumers battle headwinds, confidence is expected to plunge before the general election and remain subdued for much of the year. Consumer confidence is an economic indicator that measures the degree of optimism that consumers feel about the overall state of the economy and their personal financial situation, and provides an indication of how consumers will spend. Growth is expected to just breach the 1% mark this year while consumers face structurally high unemployment in a sluggish labour market with muted household credit extension and rising administered prices and other taxes expected to weigh on confidence. March production activity in the mining, manufacturing and retail sectors will probably disappoint, constrained by the intense load-shedding for a number of days that month.
PODCAST: South African consumers are going through the most...
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