Kazakhstan falls behind its neighbors in terms of consumer confidence
Kazakhstan has been ranked fourth in terms of consumer confidence among Central Asian states, according to a survey by Freedom Finance Global.
In July, the consumer confidence index (CCI) in Kazakhstan reached 101.5 points. About half of those who took part in the survey were positive about their perspective of the country’s economy and their well-being in one year and within five years. Some respondents said that the economy’s condition is going to be «so-so» in one year (17.2%) and five years (11.6%), respectively.
Another group of respondents assessed the future of the economy as almost bad: 9.4% in one year and 8.5% in five years. Others said that the economy won’t be doing well in one year (7.5%) and over a five-year period (8.5%), while others couldn’t answer the question (11.9% and 16.6%).
According to the survey, the most positive respondents live in the Atyrau region (64%), while people in the Karaganda and East Kazakhstan regions were more pessimistic. Only 44% of respondents here believe in the future of the national economy.
The indicator of the current financial situation and the economic situation reached 83.2 points, which is a very low level showing deep pessimism among the population, the survey says. Only 17% of respondents were positive in their assessment of the economy, while 48% expressed just the opposite opinion. A portion of respondents (35%) said that their material condition improved over the past year.
Interestingly, Russian-speaking respondents turned out to be more pessimistic with their assessments. For instance, 59% of them said that it would be better to refrain from big purchases, while 31% believe that this is the right time to buy something expensive. In addition, 35.2% of respondents reported that their material well-being hasn’t changed over the past year; 14.8% said that the situation slightly worsened for them; 13.9% said it has significantly worsened; 27.9% believe that Kazakhstan’s economy was stable over the past year; 19.2% said it worsened slightly and 28.5% think that the situation has worsened significantly.
More than half of Kazakhstanis said that they noticed a price surge over the past month; 66.4% believe that the process of price surge was more rapid this year than before. Those who are sure that the inflation is going to be high next month and next year amount to 21.6% and 22.5% of respondents, respectively. In addition, more than half of respondents think the tenge will weaken this year, while 29% believe this is going to happen in one month.
In terms of consumer confidence, Kazakhstan has taken fourth position in the Central Asian region. Uzbekistan is the leader of the survey with 134 points, followed by Tajikistan (133.7) and Kyrgyzstan (127.4).
