14.04.09

According to Rosstat, the Consumer Confidence Index fell in the first quarter to minus 35%, which is the level it was at in 1999. In comparison with the fourth quarter the index fell by 15 points, and over the year – by 35 points.

The country’s economy received the worst ratings in the history of the poll – falling by 35 points to 27%. 48% of the responders were pessimistic, while 14% were optimistic. 42% are expecting their economic circumstances to worsen, while 38% believe nothing will change over the course of the year.

Russians feel certain that now is not the time for major purchases or to save money – these indexes fell  by 33 points to -45% and by 20 points to -61% respectively. The abrupt deceleration of the growth rate of real wages lead to a shrinking demand for non-food items – in February it shrank by 3%, and in March stabilized at zero. There has not yet been a significant shrink in the demand for food items. But representatives of distributing facilities report that in the first quarter there was a noticeable shift in consumer demand, as cheaper food items became more popular.

The percentage of people willing to save shrank from 99% to 90%. In March of 2008 39.5% of responders reported spending money from their savings on housing improvements, purchasing of automobiles, relaxation and holiday expenses. Last month that percentage dropped 2.6 times to 15.1%. Now health takes first place, with 29.2% planning to spend money on medicine or medical services (a year ago this figure was 10.9%). Those planning to invest their money in the purchase of property rose 1.5 times to 24.4%.

About Alinga Consulting Group

    Audit and Taxation     Legal     Accounting and Payroll

Questions? Ask Alinga's Experts!