Consumer confidence in Nigeria’s economy declines –Survey

    
Nigeria may have the largest Gross Domestic Product in Africa but the confidence of consumers in its economy declined in March, a survey released by NOI Polls, a notable indigenous survey agency, has revealed.

The survey, which was made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday, also noted that the personal wellbeing of Nigerians had reduced.

Specifically, it stated that the Consumer Confidence Index, which provides consumer assessments of the economic situation and their intentions and expectations for the future, fell from 80.3 points in February to 68.7 points in March.

According to the survey,  the CCI comprised independent variables; the Present Situation Index and Expectation Index.

It said in March, the present situation index of 58.57 points showed that Nigerians felt slightly good about their present personal situation, while the expectation Index score of 76.2 revealed that consumers were highly optimistic about the future.

It said, “Trend analysis shows that the overall CCI dropped by 12 points; the PSI increased by two points while the EI experienced a highly significant 20 points decline. This drop shows that Nigerians have significantly lowered their expectations for the future by March compared to February 2014.”

The survey, according to NOI Polls, suggests that Nigerians started the year being highly optimistic but this gradually dropped over the course of the year as the reality of their present situation encroached on their future expectations.

It added, “This is significant in the light of March CCI results where the expectation index experienced a sharp decline and the present situation index experienced a slight increase. Quarterly trend analysis shows that the consumer confidence index of Nigerians experienced a total decline of 15.3 points over the first quarter of 2014.”

On the reason for the survey, the agency said Nigerian businesses, financial and government agencies largely depend on their perceptions and micro assessment of consumers’ expectation in making decisions.

It said at best, the organisations draw conclusion on the business environment based on information from their immediate surroundings while the minority conduct surveys that were time and money consuming.

“However, the introduction of these indices provides indicators that will ensure stakeholders can detect and respond to changes in consumer behaviour, the economy, and the business environment in Nigeria,” it said.